Winchester and Cain
by Blue-Eyed AngelGirl
Summary: Just a little story I just started writing, I don't know whether to continue it or not so please tell me in your reviews.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: So... I was watching Supernatural and reading one of my favourite book series of all time: Skulduggery Pleasant! And I thought - _'What would it be like if Valkyrie was sucked into the world of Sam and Dean?'_ Please Comment because I honestly have no idea how this will turn out!**

Winchester and Cain Chapter 01 - Pilot

_Valkyrie's __P.O.V_

"Give it up, Nadir!" I called out to the man at the edge of the warehouse, Skulduggery and I had been told that the recently escaped Silas Nadir was spotted hanging around an old, abandoned warehouse on the edge of Dublin, so Skulduggery and I had gone to rearrest him and put him back in the gaol, where he belonged. Silas Nadir turned with a malicious smirk painted on his cruel, unshaven face. He raised something and I saw it glint in the dusty fading lamplight, immediately Skulduggery's gun snapped into his gloved hand and he started firing, Silas dived out the way and covered behind some old looking crates, I sighed and clicked my fingers, casting a look at my skeleton partner, "I'll go in close range, you stand and shoot... Just try not to hit me, ok?" With one last smirk I ran forward into the gloom, Silas was hiding by the crates with what looked like with his ankle trapped in an old fisherman's net, I grinned: this was just too easy. I stalked forward with a flame dancing in my palm, I was two steps from him when I noticed the escaped criminal still had a knowing grin on his face. He suddenly jumped up - his foot not trapped in the net at all, I fell back a little from shock and cried out in surprise. Silas charged towards me and aimed punches at my shoulder, the clothes Ghastly had made me absorbed the blows and had little effect on my arm. I simply smirked at Nadir's confused expression and caught the man with a throat jab, following with a roundhouse kick to the jaw. Silas fell to the ground, a dazed look replacing the confused look, I grinned down at the man as my hand went in my pocket for my set of handcuffs. I saw too late the gun in the man's hand as he fired twice to my chest, the bullets were well aimed at my ribcage and stomach and I doubled over - the bullets didn't pass through my clothing but they knocked the wind out of me.

"Valkyrie!" Skulduggery roared behind me, I heard his rushing footsteps and turned with a weak smile on my face.

"It's fine, protective clothing remem-." I was cut off as I felt an all too familiar shocking pain going down my spine, I screamed in surprise and looked back to see Nadir's hand firmly on my exposed neck, that malicious smirk plastered on his face again. "Son of a bitch!" I growled as Skulduggery caught me in his bony arms, Silas lurched forward towards us and Skulduggery didn't hesitate to fire three shots from his gun. Silas may have aimed well, but Skulduggery's accuracy was impeccable: the three shots hole punched a perfect line across Nadir's chest. The escaped convict fell with no other sound, I watched as blood pumped out onto the floor from his dead corpse.

We exited the deserted warehouse in relatively good moods, albeit Skulduggery being concerned for my health, "Are you sure you're ok?" He pressed, his pale skull glinting in the streetlights. I sighed and nodded.

"Of course I'm ok, Skul." I assured him for the billionth time, I stuffed my hands into my pockets and started humming a tune.

"Valkyrie, if I have to hear this tune again I'm afraid I'll have to pull the gun on you." Skulduggery sighed, I couldn't help but grin and rolled my eyes.

"What? It's 'Stairway to heaven', it's a classic!" I complained, holding my hands up in defence, we rounded a corner and I stumbled a little, feeling lightheaded, seconds past and I stopped walking altogether, my head pounding. "Oh great." I muttered as I felt the familiar throbbing going up and down my spine where Nadir had zapped me. I looked up to see a flickering Skulduggery looking at my with his head tilted.

"Valkyrie?" He asked, concern lacing his soft velvety voice, I groaned as he started flickering even more, eventually Skulduggery disappeared. Dublin disappeared. Ireland disappeared.

I stumbled and fell down, my hands shot out in instinct and I landed on a hot tarmac road. I groaned as I studied my grazed and bloodied hands: still, at least it's not that wacko alternate reality again. I heard a loud beeping noise and rolled out the way of a shining black car, the car missed me by inches and I squinted as the exhaust pipe spat out dark grey smoking fumes as it braked to a stop. Two young men jumped out the car and stormed over to me, I squinted and looked up at them through the glare of the sunlight. "Are you crazy, lady? You coulda been killed back there!" The shorted man shouted in a deep voice, he carried a heavy American accent. Definitely not in Ireland then.

"Where am I?" I asked, eyeing the two men warily, prepared to click my fingers if summon shadows in case they tried anything.

"You're in the middle of the frickin' Centennial Highway." The shorter man continued angrily, his hand gesturing to the long road leading off into the distance.

"Right... Where?" I asked, even more confused than before, the two men exchanged a look. The taller one with shaggy hair crouched down, his dark hazel eyes looking into mine.

"You musta hit your head pretty hard, huh?" The man murmured, he reached down and instinctively I blocked it with my elbow. Everything froze, the man in front of me held his hands up in a defensive manner, "Woah, woah. Easy there, I'm not gonna hurt you." He said in a soft tone_,_ his hand slowly moved towards me, I shrank away a little but stopped: since when did _I_ shrink away from people? I let the man's hand near my face, my eyes narrowed at him all the while, my thumb and third finger were instinctively pressed together to conjure a flame in case something happened. I needn't have worried: the man brushed my dark hair from my face and pressed against the side of my forehead, I gasped a little as pain blossomed, when the man withdrew his fingers they were covered in blood.

"Ouch." I laughed halfheartedly and sighed, "So, this Centennie Highway place, that's America right?" I asked.

"Uh-huh, here." The tall one stood up and offered me his hand, I took it and winced a little as the pins and needles dabbled up and down my numb legs.

"So... We didn't hit you with our car, you're not dead, you're not gonna press charges and it was nice meeting you." The shorter man said, he tugged at the taller boy's arm but the boy shrugged it off.

"Wait, please! I don't know where I am, I have no money and I have no phone signal. Please, can you help me?" I pleaded, my mind casting back to Ireland.

"Uhh, sure, sure." The taller one nodded, I sighed in relief.

"Thank you. Thank you so much." I smiled at them, welcoming the warm feeling of relief.

"Ummm Sam, bro?" The shorter man looked at the taller one - _Sam_, and then looked back at me, "Just 'scuse us for one moment please." He asked, I nodded and looked away as Sam allowed his friend to drag him away. I got my phone out and frowned in annoyance as I saw the lack of signal bars on the lock screen, I didn't bother to unlock it and shoved it back in my pocket angrily. The two men walked back over, the shorter one eyeing me suspiciously, but Sam's smile was open and friendly.

"Well, we've discussed it and decided to give you a lift back into the next town over, from there are you sure you can make your way home?" Sam asked, I started to shrug, but saw Sam's friend frown and nodded hastily.

"I'm sure." I nodded.

"Well, great. I'm Sam and this is my brother Dean." He gestured to himself and then his brother.

"I'm Valkyrie." I smiled at the both of them.

"Valerie?" Dean asked, confusion written across his handsome features.

"Wow, if I had a pound everytime someone said that... It's _Valkyrie_, with a K." I corrected.

"Valkyrie. Got it." Dean replied, without another word he turned and strolled back to the car, I walked with Sam back to the car. The glossy black paint job reminded me of Skulduggery's Bentley and I sighed wistfully, running my hand across the handle.

"You like it, huh?" Dean asked, watching me with a smirk.

"Uhh yeah." It wasn't exactly a lie - it was a pretty car.

Dean was racing along up the roads, there were no other cars to be seen and Dean knew the meaning of speed, he had an old AC/DC song blasting from the speakers and I couldn't help but smile. Sam had offered to give me first aid but I declined - all it needed was an anti-bacteria swab and a clear plaster and it was good to go. "So, Valkyrie. Where are you from?" Sam asked from the passenger seat.

"I'm from a small town in Ireland, south of Dublin." I answered simply.

"And how'd a seventeen year old girl turn up in the middle of a highway alone?" Dean asked, I paused for a moment - I doubted Sam and Dean would believe me if I told him about how Silas Nadir had shunted me here.

"If I told you, you wouldn't believe me." I tried, to my surprise the two brother exchanged a grin and Dean glanced back at me.

"Try us." He challenged.

"Umm ok, I was working trying to arrest an escaped convict in a warehouse with my, uh, partner and he sent me to the middle of America." I told them the cliffnotes, I smiled a little when I saw Dean frown in the rearview mirror.

"Wait, wait wait... What do you mean 'sent'?"

"And what do you mean by arrest?" Sam added.

"I'm a detective." I answered Sam's question with a shrug, I wasn't going to answer Dean's, not unless I absolutely had to.

"How can you be a detective? You're seventeen, you're meant to be in school, doing teenage stuff." Sam sounded shocked and I rolled my eyes.

"You're kidding, right?" I smirked and Dean chuckled.

"Hear that Sam? Valkyrie doesn't need school, you don't need school." Dean said smugly.

"Oh yeah, Dean? Tell me Valkyrie, at home you have a family who loves you, cares for you, right?" Same asked, I suddenly thought about my reflection at home, smiling her fake smile and fake laughing with my parents. My insides turned cold and a lump appeared in my throat.

"I, uhh, guess so." I lied. An unwanted silence followed and I saw Sam looking at his phone.

"All right, so there's no one matching Dad at the hospital or morgue. That's something I guess." Sam looked at his older brother, Dean glanced at Sam and I stayed quiet, suddenly feeling like I was intruding. I looked out the windscreen and saw a bridge up ahead, two police cars were parked upon it, the red and blue lights flashing brightly, even from this distance.

"Check it out." Dean pointed to the officers that were dotted around up and down the bridge, Sam leant forward in his seat for a closer look. I wasn't surprised I was doing the same - crimes and adventure were my life, after all. Dean pulled the car over to a slow, smooth stop. The engine cut out and so did the music, he opened the glove box and I glimpsed numerous cards and badges, knowing exactly what they were. I stole a glance at Sam and saw that he was staring at his older brother incredulously, Dean merely smiled as he handed a card to his brother. "Let's go." He smirked and they both got out the car and shut it, I waited two seconds until I stepped out the car too. "Woah, this wasn't part of the deal, Valkyrie." Dean gave me a stern look, I raised an eyebrow at him and pointed to the police cars and the crashed car up on the center of the bridge.

"You're kidding me, right? I'm a detective, bloody crime scenes are my life. And besides," I reached into my pocket and pulled out my purse, I opened one of the side compartments to reveal all of the fake ID's Skulduggery had crafted me for situations like this, "You didn't think I'm not prepared for these instances do you?" I asked sweetly, Sam chuckled and Dean stayed quiet and didn't answer. "Right, let's go." I told them and walked off over to the direction of the policemen.

I walked over to the deputy leaning over the railing looking down at two officers in the river, they were both wearing wetsuits and I assumed they were trying to look for the body. "You guys find anything?" The deputy called down to them.

"No! Nothing!" The men called up to their superior. They deputy sighed and turned to another man peering into the deserted car.

"No sign of struggle, no footprints, no fingerprints. Spotless. It's almost too clean." The man sighed, and looked up to his colleague, his badge told me that his name was deputy Hein.

"So this kid Troy, he's dating your daughter, isn't he?" The other deputy said, Heine sighed again and put his hands behind his head.

"Yeah."

"How's Amy doing?" The first deputy asked, I felt the air shift behind me and glanced to my left to see Dean and Sam joining me.

"She's putting up missing posters downtown." Hein answered glumly.

"You fellas had another one just like this last month, didn't you?" Dean piped up, the first deputy looked up at us and straightened a little, his chest puffed out.

"And who are you?" The deputy demanded, Dean chuckled and flashed his badge. I glimpsed the logo and smirked a little.

"Federal marshals." Dean stated smugly.

"You three are a little young to be marshals, aren't you?" The deputy scratched at his chin, eyeing us all suspiciously - especially Sam and I.

"Well, that's awfully kind of you." Dean smiled and I had to fight down a chuckle, he cast his gaze over the deputy's shoulder and at the car, "You did have another one just like this, correct?" Dean pressed subtly.

"Yeah, that's right. About a mile up the road, there've been more before that too." The deputy pointed up the highway.

"So, this victim, you knew him?" Sam asked.

"Town like this, everybody knows everybody." The deputy nodded in agreement.

"Any connection between the victims, besides the fact that they're all men?" Dean asked, he was circling the car and peering in at the windows.

"No, not so far as we can tell." The deputy shook his head in disagreement, his tone was curt.

"So, what's the theory?" I asked, the deputy looked taken aback at me asking him a question and he paused for a moment.

"Honestly, we don't know. Serial murder? Kidnapping ring?" The deputy asked a little doubtfully.

"Well, that is exactly the kind of crack police work I'd expect out of you guys." Dean sighed almost sadly, Sam stomped on his brother's foot, Dean groaned and I had to hide my grin.

"Thank you for your time." I smiled at the deputy and we walked away, as we neared the car Dean reached up and hit Sam on the back of his head.

"Ow! What was that for?" Sam complained at his brother, rubbing the back of his head.

"Why'd you have to step on my foot?" Dean replied in annoyance.

"Why'd you have to talk to the police like that?" Sam snapped back. Dean looked at his brother and walked in front of him, Sam stopped and I stopped with them.

"Come on. They don't really know what's going on. We're all alone on this. I mean, if we're going to find Dad we've got to get to the bottom of this thing ourselves." Dean told Sam in a serious tone, I looked away awkwardly. The sound of Sam clearing his throat made me turn back to them, and I saw the Sheriff and two FBI agents stood behind him.

"Can I help you three?" The Sheriff asked.

"No sir, we were just leaving." Dean answered the Sheriff evenly. We passed the trio in silence until Dean nodded to the two FBI agents. "Agent Mulder, agent Scully." He nodded to them.

The journey wasn't silent - Sam argued and whined to Dean about the music selection, Dean was getting a little tired of him already. "So, Valkyrie, we'll drop you off in the town center and you can go back to wherever you came from, Sam and I will go do what we came here to do and then we'll go home." Dean told me, he glanced at Sam and I nodded.

"Sounds great," I tried not to sound as worried as I already felt, "So, what was that back there? Why did you even go inspect the area already? You're not policemen, so what's the deal?" I asked the brothers, they exchanged glances and there was an obvious hesitation between them.

"We, uh, we deal with these sort of mysterious disappearances, like an unexplained death or someone who just vanishes from the face of the earth." Sam struggled to explain, I nodded slowly.

"Ok... So you think that the car abandoned on the bridge is viewed as mysterious?" I asked, suddenly interested.

"Well yeah, I mean you heard the guy: 'no prints', kinda mysterious, huh?" Dean answered.

"Right, but any experienced murderer knows how to clear a crime scene, prints can be wiped." I reasoned.

"Well, yeah, but me and Sam have reason to believe that it's something else entirely." Dean stated simply, I leaned in closer.

"Really? What is it?" I asked excitedly, the feeling I got whenever I was working on a case with Skulduggery... Well, apart from when we did paper filing or the incredibly boring stuff.

"It's, err, nothing you need to worry about Valkyrie." Sam answered, I frowned and sighed.

I stayed quiet for the next few minutes and tried to come up with a way to get back to Ireland, hoping Skulduggery would be trying to figure out how to get me back.

_Skulduggery's P.O.V_

I was sat in The Repository with Ghastly pouring over all the books we had about Shunters, Valkyrie had been gone for a couple of hours and I had know idea where she was and when she was coming back. "Anything?" I called to Ghastly Bespoke, he was sat in one corner and I was sat in another, we both had a stack of books next to us and were trying to find anything useful that would get Valkyrie back.

"No, there's nothing in this book that would help." Ghastly's disappointed tone drifted towards me through the half light.

"Keep looking, there has to be something here to help." I said, discarding the useless book in my hands angrily, it skidded across the polished floor and crashed into an old, dusty bookcase holding many objects, wondrous and weird, frightful and fun.

We sat for ten more minutes in silence, until Ghastly broke it. "Uhh, Skulduggery?" He asked, his voice uncharacteristically hollow.

"What is it? What did you find?" My head snapped up and gazed at the man eagerly, Ghastly looked pale as he thumbed the pages of his book, his fingers stopped at the correct page and his forefinger slid down as he tried to find whatever he was looking for.

"It says, uhh, that when a Shunter shunts someone, they act as the anchor for the person. You killed Silas Nadir, right?" Ghastly's voice was no longer hollow, it shook.

"Yes." I answered.

"Well, Valkyrie doesn't have an anchor anymore. Her connection from this world died within Nadir. She's gone, Skulduggery. And she's never coming back." Ghastly said, silence followed his sentence as I absorbed what he was telling me: Valkyrie, gone forever. I pictured the pretty seventeen year old with dark hair and dark eyes, dressed all in black with a smirk to finish, she couldn't be gone. I wouldn't accept it.

_Valkyrie's P.O.V _

I did try and find a way home, I honestly did. But no one knew what to say when a seventeen year old asked them if they knew the best way to get to an airport, I sighed as I was walking down the main street, I saw a girl putting up missing persons posters of the missing boy, Troy. I walked over to her and remembered what the deputy's had said about the man's daughter being the girlfriend of the deceased. I assumed this was her. "Hi, you're Amy, right?" I asked her with a warm smile.

"Yeah." The girl smiled, despite the grief she must have been going through.

"Troy told me about you, I'm his cousin, Valkyrie." I smiled wider, the girl finished taping a poster up and frowned at me in confusion.

"He never mentioned you." She said, she suddenly turned and walked away and I caught up with her and walked with her.

"Well, that's Troy I guess," I fake laughed, "I'm not around much, as you can probably tell I'm from Ireland. I'm only passing through to help find him." I was such a great actor, keeping my eyes a little sad and wide. The girl looked at me and I put a reassuring hand on her shoulder, she looked as if she was about to burst into tears there and then. We suddenly bumped into some people and I looked up to apologise, "Oh sorry! I didn't..." I trailed off when I saw Sam and Dean.

"You must be Amy." Dean said, acting as if he hadn't just crashed into her.

"Yeah." The girl sniffed a little and I fought down a shudder: I hated it when people do that.

"Troy's told us so much about you, we're his uncles. I'm Dean and this is Sammy." He smiled, and I closed my eyes.

"Wait, you're all related?" Amy asked suspiciously, eyeing the three of us.

"No, these are my mum's brothers, uncle Dea, and uhh, Sammy." I grinned, "I'm staying with them so we can help search for Troy." I explained, Amy was still as she absorbed this, I could see she was trying to find something that didn't fit, but I was a master at deception.

"Ok, well Hi I guess." She gave us a weak smile.

"Anyway, we're looking for him too, and we're kinda asking around." Sam started to say, we passed another girl who looked around Amy and I's age, she touched Amy on the arm in sympathy.

"Hey, are you ok?" The girl asked, I rolled my eyes at the dramatics: this girl probably never even spoke to Amy.

"Yeah." Amy replied.

"Do you mind if we ask a couple of questions?" Sam continued once the girl had walked away.

The four of us were sat in a diner, Amy and I were opposite Sam and Dean. "I was on the phone with Troy. He was driving home. He said he would call me right back, and...he never did." Amy told us, her eyes shining.

"He didn't say anything strange, or out of the ordinary?" Sam asked.

"No. Nothing I can remember." Amy shook her head, she looked like she was going to cry again so I pointed to her necklace.

"I like your necklace." I complimented the pentagram in the circle, I remember reading somewhere that it was related in the devil cult stuff.

"Thanks, Troy gave it to me. Mostly to scare my parents with all that devil stuff." Amy laughed, I chuckled along with her so it wasn't awkward.

"Actually it means the opposite, a pentagram is protection against evil - really powerful," He looked from Amy to me, we were both looking at him a little doubtfully. "If you believe that kind of thing." He added.

"Okay, thank you, Unsolved Mysteries." Dean rolled his eyes at his brother, I couldn't help but smirk at his new name for Sam.

"Here's the deal, Amy, the way Troy dissappeared: something's not right. So if you've heard anything..." Dean trailed off when Amy bit her lip.

"What is it?" Sam asked the girl.

"Well, it's just... I mean, with all these guys going missing, people talk." Amy shrugged uncomfortably.

"What do they talk about?" Dean and I said simultaneously, we looked at eachother and grinned a little.

"It's kind of this local legend. This one girl? She got murdered out on the Centennial, like decades ago." Amy explained, Sam and Dean looked at eachother and then back to Amy. "Well, supposedly she's still out there," the girl continued, "She hitchikes, and whoever picks her up? They disappear forever."

"Well, that's just a legend." I shrugged, unperturbed.

"Yeah." Amy nodded and stood up, "Well, it's been nice to meet you and stuff..." She smiled and trailed off.

"Yeah, you too, Amy." I smiled back. Amy left without another word, Sam and Dean were looking at me with intense gazes. I bit my lip and stared at the salt shaker on the table, "So, it's nice to see you guys again." I murmured.

"What are you doing, Valkyrie?" Dean asked, his tone stern, "We're trying to work on a case and you're here taking our lines."

"So you're detectives too, huh?" I nodded, then leaned closer. "Then you know what it's like! People are mysteriously disappearing and all I wanna do is find out what's happening to them, that's all." I said.

"It's too dangerous, Valkyrie, we don't know who we're dealing with yet." Sam argued, I rolled my eyes.

"Sam, I've been doing this for a long time, ok? I started when I was like, eleven!" I argued, annoyed at Sam's concern.

"Eleven? That's crazy!" Sam snapped.

"Sam, how old were we when Dad started... You know?" Dean looked at his brother with a shrug. "Ok, Valkyrie, you can help us out, but then after that I'm driving you to the next airport I see, you can get on a plane and go back to wherever you came from." Dean told me firmly, I nodded in agreement.

"Sounds fair." I answered simply and we all stood up, I picked up my coat from the back of my chair and started to put it on, "So where to next?"

"Are you serious? The library?" I whined as the three of us climbed the stairs leading into the worryingly large building.

"Yep." Dean answered, I heaved a sigh as I stepped through the double doors, the old lady at the receptionists desk glared at me through her round glasses and shushed me angrily. I rolled my eyes and flicked her off when she turned her back, Sam chuckled behind me. Dean led us to an ancient looking computer that was located in the back corner of the room, Dean sat himself at the desk and started typing quickly, his fingers danced over the dusty keyboard as he typed something into it. I looked at the computer screen and saw he was in the _Jericho Herald_ archives, Dean typed into the search bar:

**Fe****male murder hitchhiking **

**[0 results] **

Dean frowned and typed again into the search bar:

**Female murder ****Centennial Highway **

**[0 results] **

"Here let me." Sam said, his hand reached towards the keyboard but Dean slapped it away.

"I got it." Dean shook his head at his brother. There was silence for three seconds. Sam shoved Dean out of the chair and sat down at the desk, I stared at them both with wide eyes, a grin tugged the sides of my mouth. "Dude!" Dean exclaimed, he hit his brother on the shoulder roughly and I burst out laughing. "You're such a control freak." Dean moaned, I giggled again as Sam rolled his eyes.

"So angry spirits are born out of violent death, right?" Sam asked, ignoring Dean's comment completely, my giggling died down and I frowned.

"What are you talking about? Angry spirits? They aren't real... Are they?" I trailed off, in the world of magic I guess anything and everything was possible.

"Oh yeah, sweet-cheeks: ghosts, demons, poltergeists, the works. Except angels, of course." Dean smirked at my open-mouthed expression.

"So how did you find out about this stuff?" I asked, suddenly interested about their story.

"Our dad." The brother's said in unison.

"Oh, wow..." I was amazed - I had toyed so many times with the idea of telling my parents about the world I'm part of, about the world I live for. But I was just too scared of how they would react.

"So, anyway, angry spirits are born out of a violent death - so maybe it's not murder." Sam suggested, I watched the screen change as he typed into the search bar:

**Female suicide Centennial Highway**

**[1 result]**

**Suicide on Centennial April 25 1981**

"A local woman's drowning death was ruled a suicide, the county Sheriff's Department said earlier today. Constance Welch, 24, of 4636 Breckenridge Road, leapt off Sylvania Bridge, at mile 33 of Centennial Highway, and subsequently drowned last night. Deputy J. Pierce told reporters that, hours before her death, Ms. Welch logged a call with 911 emergency services. In a panicked tone, Ms. Welch described how she found her two young children, 5 and 6, in the bathtub, after leaving them alone for several [minutes]. She reported that their complex. What happened to my children was a terrible accident. And it must have been too much for my wife. Our babies were gone, and Constance just couldn't bear it," said husband Joseph Welch. "Now I ask that you all please respect my privacy during this trying time.' At the time of the children's death and Ms. Welch's subsequent suicide, Mr. Welch was at the Frontier auto salvage yard, where he works the graveyard shift as associate manager. 'Connie might have been quiet, but she was the sweetest, most caring girl I ever knew,' said Deanna Kripke, a neighbor. 'She just doted on those children.'" I read out the article aloud.

"This was 1981. Constance Welch, twenty-four years old, jumps off Sylvania Bridge, drowns in the river." Sam said, he clicked on a picture and it showed an enlarged photo of a woman with dark hair in a white dress.

"Does it say why she did it?" Dean asked, peering at the computer screen.

"Yeah." Sam answered.

"What?" I asked.

"An hour before they found her, she calls 911. Apparently her two little kids are in the bathtub. She leaves them alone for a minute, and when she comes back, they aren't breathing. Both die." Sam read a small paragraph at the bottom of the page. Next to the paragraph Sam had just read showed another photograph, this time it was a man standing next to the bridge we had passed on the way to the town where Troy's car was found.

"'Our babies were gone, and Constance just couldn't bear it,' said husband Joseph Welch.'" I read the caption.

"Does that bridge look familiar to you?" Dean pointed to the picture again and Sam nodded.

"Right. Let's go." I said, the brother's nodded and we exited the library in silence.

Sam, Dean and I were walking along the Sylvania Bridge in the moonlight, we leant against the railing and looked out at the rushing dark water below. "So this is where Constance took the swan dive." Dean said, his hands tapped on the metal rails.

"So you think Dad would have been here?" Sam asked, the sound of the river intensified, I could hear crickets chirping in the riverbank grasses below.

"Well, he's chasing the same story and we're chasing him." Dean nodded once.

"Ok, so now what?" Sam asked again, I looked around and there was clearly no dead girl to be seen.

"Now we keep digging until we find him. Might take a while." Dean answered.

"Dean, I've told you, I've gotta get back by Monday-." Sam protested.

"Monday. Right. The interview." Dean nodded, as if he had only just remembered.

"Yeah."

"Yeah, I forgot. You're really serious about this, aren't you? You think you're just going to become some lawyer? Marry your girl?" Dean asked, we stepped off from the railing and began to walk down the bridge.

"Maybe, why not?" Sam shrugged nonchalantly.

"Does Jessica know the truth about you? I mean, does she know about the things you've done?" Dean stopped walking and turned to face Sam, I stepped back a little.

"No. And she's not ever going to know." Sam shook his head, his tone firm.

"Well, that's healthy. You can pretend all you want, Sammy. But sooner or later you're going to have to face up to who you really are." Dean rolled his eyes.

"And who's that?" Sam glared at Dean.

"You're one of us." Dean stated simply, and he resumed his walk up the bridge, Sam ran in front of him and stopped Dean in his tracks.

"No. I'm not like you, this is not going to be my life." Sam denied.

"You have a responsibility to-."

"To dad? And his crusade?" Sam cut Dean off angrily, "If it weren't for pictures I wouldn't even know what mum looked like. And what difference would it make? Even if we do find the thing that killed her, Mom's gone. And she isn't coming back." Sam shouted angrily, Dean snapped and grabbed Sam and shoved him towards me, I dived away as Dean slammed Sam up against the railing of the bridge where I was stood. Dean was looking at Sam with a rage in his dark eyes, I quietly readied myself to intervene incase things got out of hand.

"Don't talk about her like that." Dean whispered, he slowly released Sam and walked off. I went to Sam and held out my hand, he took it and I gave him a small smile.

"Sam. Valkyrie." Dean called, we turned and saw a woman in a scraggy white dress, deathly pale with dark, dark hair. It created a dark and terrible contrast, she had her head tilted and was staring at us with sinister gleaming eyes. The woman, or ghost or whatever she was, was standing on the railing, completely balanced as she stared at us. Sam and I joined Dean and then Constance walked forward and off the edge, falling down into the dark depths of the river. I sprinted forward and leaned over the railing, trying to look for where she had hit the river, Dean was by my side in a matter of seconds, "Where'd she go?" He demanded, I merely shrugged and shook my head.

"I don't know." I said as I leaned further over still, we suddenly heard a car engine and we turned to see Dean's car with the headlights on, I looked up at Dean to see a look of worry and confusion etched on his features.

"What the-."

"Who's driving your car?" I cut him off, trying to look past the blinding beam of the headlights to peer into the driver's seat. Beside me, Dean took his car keys out of his pocket and showed us, Sam walked over and grabbed them and jingled them, just to make sure. The car suddenly sped forward, heading straight towards us. We turned and ran.

"Go, go!" Sam shouted as he sprinted beside me, there was fear running through my veins and adrenaline veating in my heart, telling me to run all the more faster. The car sped up and we veered course, it was about to hit us when the three of us dived over the railing, heading straight into the water. I felt the air move under my palms and lightly pushed down, slowing my decent into the murky depths, I hit the cold water and gasped - I had completely underestimated the cold temperature of the river, thanks to magic I had landed only a foot under the water, I kicked up with my legs and my head broke through the surface. The first thing I heard was Sam's frightened tones. "Dean! Valkyrie!" He called, I swam to the bank and laid down on the bank tiredly and closed my eyes. There was the sound of someone panting and then Dean was crawling up the bank next to me.

"What?" Dean snapped in an irritated tone.

"Are you and Valkyrie alright?" Sam's voice sounded distant and I cracked my eyes open a fraction and I saw Sam pulling himself up from the outer side of the bridge railing: why didn't I do that?

"I'm super. Don't know about Valkyrie though." Dean replied and then I felt a hand on my shoulder shaking me, I groaned and opened my eyes.

"Never been better." I groaned and slowly got to my knees and stood up. Sam laughed above us and I hoped for his sake that he was laughing out of relief.

Whilst Sam and Dean were checking the car I used the air to dry myself, as I was playing with a flame in my hand I heard the car bonnet shut and I quickly snuffed it out, it disappeared into the night air. "Your car alright?" I asked nonchalantly.

"Yeah, whatever she did to it, seems all right now. That Constance chick, what a bitch!" Dean spun and shouted down the bridge, as if he was hoping Constance would hear him.

"Well, she doesn't want us digging around, that's for sure. So where's the job go from here, genius?" Sam asked, a little angrily towards his brother, he sits on the bonnet and Dean and I join him, we both start clearing the mud from our hands.

"Uhh I smell horrible, can we find a place to freshen up and rest for the night?" I asked, drained from encountering the vengeful spirit and diving into a freezing river.

We arrived in a motel just as the sun was breaking through the treeline, I had looked at myself in the reflection of the car window and to say I was dirty was understatement, mud covered the bottom half of my chin and the ends of my hair. The receptionist at the desk looked at Dean and I with disdain as we walked up to the front desk, Dean flashed one of the fake credit cards and smiled at the man. "One room, please." He asked, placing the card on the desk. The clerk picked up the card and looked at it.

"You guys having a reunion or something?" The clerk asked, a frown of confusion on his face.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"I had another guy, Burt Aframian. He came and bought out a room for the whole month." The clerk told me, Dean looked round at his brother, hope blossoming on his face.

"Which room is it?" Dean demanded to the clerk.

Five minutes later Dean and I were playing look out whilst Sam fiddled with the lock and his lockpicks, I heard a tell-tale click and turned to see Sam charge through the doors. "Wait here." He told his older brother, I followed Sam in and stopped at the first glance: newspaper clippings, maps with marker pen scrawled on various points on them were all pinned up on every wall, stacks of books piled high on the desk and bedside table, assorted junk littered the floor and something with a hazard symbol was discarded next to the bed. "Woah." Sam stated, his voice bordering on impressed and fear. Dean walked in and switched the light on.

"I don't think he's been here for a couple days at least." Dean stated, surveying the scene before him, Sam nodded and crouched down to study a salt line circling the bed.

"Salt, cats-eye shells...he was worried. Trying to keep something from coming in." Sam observed. I looked at a bunch of papers pinned together on the wall, I took them off and flicked through, briefly reading the titles on each page. "What have you got there?" Sam asked, I looked up and handed him the wad of papers.

"I think they're the Centennial Highway Victims." I said as Sam took the papers. He flicked through them and nodded.

"I don't get it, I mean - different men, different jobs, ages, ethnicities. There's always a connection, right? What do these guys have in common?" I asked, whilst I was saying this Sam had crossed the room and was studying the far wall, his fingers tracing over the articles.

"Dad figured it out." Sam murmered.

"What do you mean?" Dean asked, turning to look at his brother.

"He found the same article we did. Constance Welch. She's a woman in white." Sam explained.

"All right, so if we're dealing with a woman in white, dad would have found the corpse and destroyed it." Dean reasoned, I didn't actually know what Dean meant by burning the corpse, but it sounded plausible - kill the body, kill the spirit.

"She might have another weakness." Sam shrugged.

"Well, dad would want to make sure." Dean replied, he crossed over to stand next to his brother and read the articles for himself, "He'd dig her up, does it say where she's buried?" He asked.

"No. Not that I could tell, if I were dad, though, I'd go ask her husband." Sam shrugged again. He tapped a picture of Joseph Welch, "The caption says he's thirty; the article dates to 1981, so he must be sixty-four." Sam said, he turned around to look at us, "If he's still alive." He added.

"You guy's get the address, I'm gonna go clean up," I nodded my head in the direction of the door which I suspected was the bathroom, "You can shower after me." I added, looking at Dean.

I was sat cross-legged on the bed next to Sam, he was listening to voicemails from a girl, presumably his girlfriend. The message shut off when the bathroom door opened and Dean walked in. "Hey, man. I'm starving, I'm gonna grab a little something to eat in that diner down the street. You want anything?" He offered.

"No." Sam declined.

"Yes. I haven't eaten since I first got here, I'm starving." I informed them.

"You should have said something earlier, Valkyrie, we could have got you something." Sam shook his head in amazement and I shrugged.

"I wasn't hungry then, something about an evil spirit trying to kill me..." I trailed of and laughed lightly, Sam rolled his eyes.

"Right, well I'll be back soon." Dean said and exited the room.

An hour passed and I had seated myself on the edge of the bath in the bathroom and was playing with fire that I had conjured up, the only reason I had gone into the bathroom was because of Sam's deterring voicemails from his girlfriend. I heard Sam's phone ring and he answered it on the first ring, "What?" I heard Sam's voice - he must have been talking with Dean. "What about you?" He asked, his voice concerned, I stood up from the edge of the bath and joined Sam in the main room, he was listening to Dean through the earpiece, his back to me. After a few more seconds he snapped his phone shut and turned, "Dean got busted by the deputies and he says to go find Dad." Sam told me, I nodded and walked over to the door but he called after me. "No, not that way! Apparently they're outside with Dean right now." He advised, I nodded and walked over to the window and slid it open, we both climbed out and descended the fire escape silently and out to the car on the back car park.

Sam and I peeked out of the car window at an old shabby house on the edge of Jericho, "You think this is it?" I asked him, he nodded and we both opened the door and got out. We made our way down the beaten, overgrown garden path and I knocked on the decrepit door, an old man answered and peered at us suspiciously in the safe darkness of his home.

"Hi. Are you Joseph Welch?" Sam greeted warmly.

"Yeah." The man, Joseph, answered.

Sam, Joseph and I were walking down the junk-filled driveway, Sam had shown Joseph a photograph Sam had of his brother and his dad. "He was older, but that's him." The old man confirmed, handing Sam the photo back, "He came by three or four days ago, said he was a reporter." Joseph continued.

"That's right. We're working on a story together." I explained.

"Well, I don't know what the hell kinda story you're working on. The questions he asked me?" Joseph raised his voice angrily, I bit my lip and looked away.

"About your wife, Constance?" Sam took over.

"He asked me where she was buried." Joseph nodded, more calm now.

"And where is that again?" I asked, my tone casual and innocent.

"What, I gotta go through this twice?" The man moaned and I nodded.

"It's fact checking." I shrugged.

"If you don't mind." Sam added quickly. Joseph nodded, stroking the stubble on his chin.

"In a plot. Behind my old place over on Breckenridge." He answered pointing one way up the road.

"Why did you move?" Sam inquired.

"I'm not gonna live in the house where my children died." Joseph shook his head sadly, he stopped walking so Sam and I stopped too.

"Mr Welch, did you ever marry again?" I asked sympathetically.

"No way. Constance, she was the love of my life. Prettiest woman I ever known." He looked at me with a sort of steely fierceness in his aging blue eyes.

"So, you had a happy marriage?" Sam asked from behind him, Mr Welch froze, but only for a moment. The hesitation was so brief I wasn't even sure it was a hesitation.

"Definitely." Joseph said in a hard tone, I tilted my head in confusion: it sounded like he was trying to convince himself more than us.

"Well, that should do it. Thank you for your time." Sam nodded politely and I smiled a goodbye as we started walking back to the car. Before we could reach the doors, however, Sam turned and called out to Joseph. "Mr Welch, did you ever hear of woman in white?" He called over to the old man.

"What?" The man looked at us with a confused look.

"The woman in white, or sometimes the weeping woman?" Sam repeated, the man just stared at us, "It's a ghost story. Well, it's more of a phenomenon, really." Sam continued and started walking back towards Mr Welch, I followed suit. "Um, they're spirits. They've been sighted for hundreds of years, dozens of places, in Hawaii, Mexico, lately in Arizona, Indiana. All these are different women." Sam explained as he closed the distance between Joseph and his self. The elderly man continued to stare, shocked, at Sam. "You understand, but all share the same story." Sam said as he stopped in front of Joseph.

"Boy, I don't care much for nonsense." Joseph found his voice again, snapping a little at Sam, he turned on his heel and started walking back towards his house.

"See, when they were alive, their husbands were unfaithful to them." Sam called out, Joseph stopped. "And these women, basically suffering from temporary insanity, murdered their children." Sam said, Joseph turned round, his face a white sheet and his eyes round and wide. "Then once they realized what they had done, they took their own lives. So now their spirits are cursed, walking back roads, waterways. And if they find an unfaithful man, they kill him. And that man is never seen again." He finished, I looked to make sure Mr Welch hadn't fainted from shock.

"You two think...you both think that has something to do with...Constance? You smartasses!" Joseph yelled.

"You tell us." I shrugged simply, Joseph was no longer white - he was red faced with wild eyes.

"I mean, maybe...maybe I made some mistakes. But no matter what I did, Constance, she never would have killed her own children. Now, you both get the hell out of here! And neither of you don't come back!" The man roared, I saw his hand shaking and I couldn't decide whether that was from anger or grief. He stared at Sam and I for the longest time, I could hear his heavy breathing from where I was stood, then he turned and stormed off, beside me Sam sighed.

"Let's go." Sam said and I nodded, as we were walking back to the car he handed me his phone.

"What's this for?" I asked as we opened the car doors.

"I need you to make a call." Sam answered.

As we were driving along the dark highway the phone Sam had given me rang in my lap, I picked it up and answered. "Fake 911 phone call? Sammy, I don't know, that's pretty illegal." I heard Dean's voice on the other end and smirked.

"You're welcome." I replied.

"Valkyrie? Well... Thanks, hey listen, we all gotta talk." Dean's voice sounded urgent and I found myself nodding.

"Tell me about it. So the husband was unfaithful. We are dealing with a woman in white. And she's buried behind her old house, so that should have been your dad's next stop." I explained.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Hang on for a second." Dean said.

"I just can't figure out why your dad hasn't destroyed the corpse yet." I continued.

"Well, that's what I'm trying to say. He's gone. Dad left Jericho." Dean explained.

"What? How do you know?" I asked.

"I've got his journal."

"So?" I shrugged.

"He never went anywhere without it." Dean explained.

"So, what's it say?" I asked.

"Ah, the same old ex-Marine crap, when he wants to let us know where he's going." Dean continued.

"Coordinates, right? Where to?" I questioned again.

"I'm not sure."

"Dean, what's going on? Why did your dad just skip out in the middle of a job?" I asked confusedly, the car suddenly braked and I slammed forward, dropping the phone in shock, my head slammed onto the dashboard and I cried out in surprise. "Sam!" I growled, rubbing my head and glaring at him, but Sam took no notice: his gaze was transfixed on something on the road.

"Sam? Valkyrie?" Dean's panicked tones peirced the silence as I glimpsed Constance standing out on the dark, empty highway. I blinked and she was gone, beside me, Sam was breathing hard and I felt the air shift behind me, my black ring went cold: someone in the car was dead.

"Take me home." A woman's voice echoed around the car, my eyes looked up in the rear-view mirror and I saw Constance sitting in the back seat, her head down and her dark, matted hair covering her face. "Take me home!" She demanded, her head looking up and looked at Sam in the rear-view mirror, those dark, empty eyes boring into his.

"No." Sam shook his head. The woman glared and the doors locked, Sam and I turned and tried to force them open but they wouldn't budge. The gas pedal suddenly pressed down and the car moved forward, Sam grabbed the steering wheel and tried to turn it, but it wouldn't move an inch. I kicked at the door with my legs but it was useless, I glanced up at the woman's reflection and I gasped when I saw she was flickering. The car pulled up in front of a once-pretty, abandoned large house, the door had peeled white paint slashed over it, the windows were dark and unwelcoming. "Don't do this." Sam begged to the pale, pale woman in the back seat.

"I can never go home." Constance suddenly said, she flickered again and her face had a pained expression on her face and sounded sad, almost morbid.

"You're scared to go home." I suddenly realised, I looked at Sam and then back at Constance, only she wasn't there. She suddenly appeared and shoved Sam back into his seat as she pushed against him, the seat reclined from the sudden force and I tried to pull her off, but an invisible force slammed me against the door. I looked up and saw Sam struggling beneath the apparition.

"Hold me. I'm so cold." She sighed and closed her onyx eyes.

"You can't kill me. I'm not unfaithful, and I've never been!" Sam protested and Constance opened her eyes.

"I know you have," Her eyes flickered to me and I felt a cold fear spread through me, an image of Caelan and Fletcher appeared in my head but I shook it away, raisingmy head and holding her gaze and narrowing my eyes at her.

"Maybe so, but I'm not a man." I argued, the ghost smirked and then looked up at Sam.

"And you, you will be. Just hold me." She said to him and then she kissed him, Sam struggled harder, I leaned forward to help him but the invisible force pinned me to the door again. Sam's hand flashed and he grabbed something, the keys jingled and she pulled away from him and disappeared, the force that had me pinned against the car door vanished and I relaxed into the seat. Beside me, Sam was gasping for breath and was looking around, his eyes wide with shock. He suddenly yelled out in pain and I jumped, he zipped open his hoodie and yanked it off, I saw five new holes burnt through the fabric - five holes for five fingers. Constsnce appeared again and her hand reached for Sam's chest, her hand neared his skin and a gunshot sounded, shattering the window to Sam's left and startling Constance. I saw Dean striding forward, his shotgun in his hand, he fires again and I saw Constance's eyes narrow and she vanished again and appeared in a different place, Dean fires again but she disappeared and reappeared in a different place, it all reminded me of Fletcher's tactics. When Constance disappeared and didn't reappear Sam sat up and started the car, steely determination etched onto his features.

"I'm taking you home." He said and floored the gas pedal, the car sped forward and I was pressed into the seat. The car neared the side of the house and I screamed when it crashed into the house. My ears were ringing and my vision was blurred, I felt like I had been kicked in the gut, Dean suddenly appeared at my window and was peering in at us.

"Sam! Sam! You ok?" His voice slowly reached my ears, he opened my door and he put his arms around me and carefully pulled me out, "Hey, look at me. Look at me." Dean spoke to me and I blinked up at him, waiting for him to come into focus and the ringing in my ears to stop. Sam staggered out of the driver's side and fell to the ground, coughing from the dust. "Sam, you ok?" I heard Dean ask over the ringing.

"Yeah, I'm great." Sam choked out, Dean turned his attention back to me, he was in focus now and the ringing was dying down.

"Can you move?" He asked me, concern in his tone.

"I think..." I muttered and gripped his shoulder as I stood on shaky legs, I glared at Sam, "I will kill you if you ever try that again." I said to him in a quiet, angry voice. Dean laughed and Sam grinned, I looked around and saw that we had crashed into what looked like a living room, Constance was gazing down at a photograph in her hands, she suddenly looked up and glared at us, throwing the picture down. I felt the air shift but it was too late: a cabinet hurtled towards us and pinned the three of us against the car, we struggled and I had a thought. I freed my hands and snapped my palms - I pushed at the air and the cabinet blasted away from us, I smirked and turned to the ghost, she looked at me with a startled expression. I took a step towards her but it was needless: water began to pour down from the staircase leading upstairs, at the are a boy and girl, they looked as pale as Constance - I recognized them from the picture of Constance and her two children, these two were obviously the kids she killed.

"You've come home to us, mummy." They did that creepy dead child chorus thing that you see in the movies, Constance herself stared up at them, distraught. The children did the disappearing trick and materialized behind their mother, they pulled her in a tight embrace and she threw her head back and screamed in abject agony, her image flickered and still she screamed. The three ghosts melt into a puddle on the floor and the screaming stopped and I breathed out in relief.

"So this is where she drowned her kids." Dean pointed to the puddle on the musty old carpet.

"That's why she could never go home, she was too scared to face them." Sam nodded to us.

"You found her weak spot. Nice work, Sammy, Valkyrie." Dean smirked and playfully hit him on the chest where Constance's fingers had burned him and walked away back to his car, Sam laughed and then glared at his brother's turned back.

"Yeah, I wish I could say the same for you. What were you thinking shooting Casper in the face, you freak?" Sam asked Dean, there was a brief silence and I burst out laughing,I could see Sam was trying to keep the smile off his face.

"Hey. Saved both your asses." Dean frowned and then leaned on his bonnet and stroked it lovingly. "I'll tell you another thing, if you screwed up my car?" He pointed his finger angrily at his brother and glared, "I'll kill you." He finalized. Sam laughed but it died down when he saw I wasn't laughing along with him.

"I'll help him, you damn near killed me, Sammy." I glared at the younger brother.

"Don't call me that." He sighed and then shot daggers at Dean, "See what you've done? The damage you've caused me with that stupid nickname?" He sighed angrily and I smirked.

I briefly fell asleep in the back seat of the car, I woke up to the sound of Sam and Dean talking, "It's called Blackwater Ridge, Colorado." Sam was saying, pointing to a map.

"Sounds charming. How far?" Dean nodded.

"About six hundred miles." Sam answered.

"Hey, if we shag ass we could make it by morning." Dean suggested, Sam was quiet for a few moments and shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

"Dean, I, umm..." He trailed off.

"You're not going." Dean finished for him, sighing and tapping the steering wheel annoyedly.

"The interview's in, like, ten hours. I gotta be there." Sam shrugged. Dean nods, but I could see disappointment in his eyes.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." He muttered, a few seconds passed and he glanced at Sam, "I'll take you home." He offered and Sam nodded in thanks.

I drifted off again and awoke to a car door closing, I looked up to see Sam leaning in the open window and looking at Dean. "Call me if you find him?" Sam asked and I knew they were talking about their dad. Dean nodded and Sam smiled, "And maybe I can meet up with you later, huh?"

"Yeah, alright." Dean smiled and rolled his eyes.

"I hope you get home safely, Valkyrie, it was nice meeting you and stuff." He glanced at me and gave me a friendly smile.

"Nice meeting you too, Sammy, good luck in your interview tomorrow and thanks for convincing Dean to give me a lift." I thanked him and he shrugged.

"It's nothing, really." He shrugged again and then leaned back out of the window, he hit the roof twice and then turned away. Dean leaned over, his arm wrapping around the back of the passenger seat as he peered out.

"Sam?" He called, the tall boy turned back and looked over, "We made a hell of a team back there, you know." He said.

"Yeah." Sam nodded and grinned, I half expected him to get back in the car, but he stayed where he was. Dean pulled away and I looked at the boy getting further and further away, he looked almost regretful. We drove in silence up the road and made it about half a mile until Dean stopped and turned the car around, I smirked at him and he grinned at me in the rear-view mirror, we sped back to the college and both got out. I breathed the night air gratefully but then frowned when I smelt something that smelled just like...

"Oh my god!" I gasped and pointed to a room above us, an orange glow of flames could be seen inside.

"That's Sam's room." Dean said and sprinted into the college, I tore after him and we raced up the stairs, when we reached Sam's floor I used the shadows to break the glass and I slammed my thumb on the button, alarms rang out but I ignored them and joined Dean at Sam's door. "Sam!" He shouted, panic flowed across his face when he heard no reply and started kicking at the door, I helped and soon enough the door broke from it's hinges with a whine and we burst into the apartment.

"Jess!" I heard Sam's cry of despair and we ran into the direction where it came from, when we reached the bedroom we saw that it was lit up with angry amber flames, on the ceiling there was a pretty looking girl surrounded by flames, Sam was on the bed staring up at the girl in horror.

"Sam! Sam!" Dean ran over to his brother and tugged at his arm, but Sam, remained still, his gaze transfixed on the ceiling.

"No, no!" Sam cried out, Dean looks back at me and I shrugged helplessly, Dean turned back to his brother and picked him up and threw him over his shoulder and ran from the room, Sam was kicking and fighting his brother the whole way. "Jess! No! No!" Sam cried as I shut the door, preventing the roaring flames from following.

The three of us were stood a little way off watching the fire fighters tackle the fire and the police men keep back the students that had gathered outside to stare at the scene. I heard the unmistakable sound of a gun being loaded and I turned to see Sam, his face a mask of desperate anger. I tugged at Dean's arm and he went over to his brother, Sam looked up at us and sighed, he nodded and tossed the shotgun back into the trunk. "We got work to do." He stated in desperate determintion and slammed the trunk.

**Author's Note: Ok this took me a whole two days to write, please tell me if it was worth it in your ****reviews! **

**- Blue-Eyed AngelGirl x**


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note: Thank you so much for your reviews, when I get my 5****th**** review I'll upload Chapter 3!**

Winchester and Cain Chapter 02 - Wendigo

_Valkyrie's P.O.V_

Sam, Dean and I were on the road to Colorado, going to the co-ordinates that the boys' dad, John Winchester, had given them. Sam was only here because he sought vengeance from the demon that killed his girlfriend, Jess. I looked at the boy who was asleep next to his brother in the front seat and frowned: the poor guy hadn't had a good week, after all. Sam suddenly jerked awake, gasping for breath, I jumped and widened my eyes at him, then caught Dean's look at me in the rear view mirror. "You ok?" The older brother asked as Sam rubbed his eyes.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Sam muttered as he stared out the window, not meeting me or Dean's gaze.

"Another nightmare?" I asked gently, putting a reassuring hand on his shoulder, he cleared his throat and didn't answer.

"You wanna drive for a while?" Dean asked.

"Yes." I answered immediately, Dean turned his head and rolled his eyes on me and I shrugged, "What?" I asked innocently, eyeing the polished dashboard and gleaming steering wheel, Sam laughed at me and then looked at his brother.

"Dean, your whole life you never once asked me that." Sam said suspiciously, next to him Dean shot him a confused look.

"Just thought you might want to. Never mind." Dean huffed.

"Look, I know you're both worried about me, I get it. And thank you! But I'm perfectly okay." Sam sighed and glanced at the two of us.

"Mm-hmm." Dean nodded, unconvinced. Sam ignored him and grabbed the map from the dashboard and looked at it.

"All right, where are we?" Sam asked.

"We are just outside of... What's it called again?" I piped up.

"Grand Junction." Dean answered, his eyes fixed on the road. "We went through the map earlier, Valkyrie, you should know this by now." Dean scolded. I scoffed and crossed my arms sulkily.

"Yeah, well I'm not likely to remember the highly obnoxious ones like Grand Junction. What's so Grand about it anyway?" I asked, the two boys chuckled and exchanged a glance. Sam folded the map away and I glimpsed the label Dean had stuck there with the co-ordinates 35-111 on.

"You know what?" Sam asked as he placed the map back on top of the dashboard, "Maybe we shouldn't have left Stanford so soon." He suggested lightly.

"Sam, we dug around there for a week. If you wanna find the thing that killed Jessica-." I started, but Sam cut me off.

"We gotta find my Dad first. I know, I know." Sam sighed and nodded.

"Dad disappearing, and this thing showing up again after twenty years, it's no coincidence." Dean shrugged and overtook a lorry, "Dad will have answers. He'll know what to do." He finished in a firm voice.

"It's weird man, these co-ordinates he left us. This Blackwater Ridge." Sam observed.

"What about it?" Dean asked.

"There's nothing there. It's just woods." He moaned. "Why is he sending us to the middle of nowhere?" He asked, but no one answered. In silence we drove passed a sign that said: 'Welcome to Lost Creek, Colorado, National Forest.'

I could only describe the Ranger Station with one word: shabby, the inside was dusty, with a once-bright carpet with dark patches staining areas of it, Sam was looking at the 3D map of the National Park, whilst Dean and I were looking at the tacky decorations on the walls. "So Blackwater Ridge is pretty remote." Sam pointed out, I turned and saw he was gesturing to an area on the map labelled 'Blackwater Ridge' the only thing that worried me was the fact that I couldn't see any signs of civilisation near it apart from this station, and that was still a good several miles from the drop point. "It's cut off by these canyons here, rough terrain, dense forest, abandoned silver and gold mines all over the place." He continued, his finger tracing the wide berth area of Blackwater Ridge, I gulped and shot Sam an uneasy look.

"Great. What do you think, Dean?" I turned to look at the older brother, but his attention was focused on something else entirely.

"Dude, check out the size of this frickin' bear!" Dean exclaimed, pointing to a large black and white photograph hanging above a mantel, I stepped closer for a better look and was amazed to see a man standing next to the largest bear I have ever seen. Sam stepped up beside us and stood next to me.

"And a dozen or more grizzlies in the area. It's no nature hike, that's for sure." Sam sighed and tapped the grizzly picture.

"Great, just great." I moaned and Dean chuckled beside me.

"What? Not into hikes, sweet-cheeks?" He grinned and I hit him out of principal and glared.

"Don't get used to calling me that, Dean." I warned and we went back to staring at the photograph.

"You guys aren't planning on going out near Blackwater Ridge by any chance?" An aged voice sounded behind us and we whipped round, startled. An old man in a forest ranger's uniform was standing behind us.

"Oh, no, sir. We're enviromental study majors from UC Boulder, just working on a paper." Sam lied smoothly for us, chuckling a little beside me. Dean suddenly took hold of my hand and we both fist pumped, I shot a look at Dean and saw a huge, enthusiastic grin painted on his face.

"Recycle, man!" He cheered jubiantly, the old man didn't look too impressed.

"Bull." He crossed his arms and scoffed at us, Sam's eyes flickered to me and I rolled my eyes in return. "You're friends with that Haley girl, right?" The man asked us, none of us answered so I nodded.

"Yeah, she's one of my best friends, Ranger... Wilkinson." I smiled, checking the man's nametag.

"Well, I will tell you exactly what we told her. Her brother filled out a blackcountry permit saying he wouldn't be back from Blackwater until the twenty-fourth, so it's not exactly a missing persons now, is it?" The ranger answered, I nodded in understanding.

"Yeah well, you know Haley, she's always been such a worryer, right from when we were kids." I shrugged and made a 'what can you do?' face.

"You tell that girl to quit worrying, I'm sure her brother's just fine." The ranger continued. I opened my mouth to answer but Dean put a hand on my shoulder.

"We will. But that Haley girl's a pistol, huh?" Dean smirked, I frowned but Dean squeezed my shoulder hard and I shut up.

"That is putting it mildly." The old man answered.

"Actually, you know what would help is if I could show her a copy of that backcountry permit. You know, so she could see her brother's return date." Dean shrugged, the ranger paused and Sam and I exchanged a look, we looked back and saw Dean raising his eyebrows innocently.

The three of us exited the station, Sam and I were quiet whilst Dean was holding up a piece of paper and grinning like a five year old. "What, are you cruising for a hookup or something?" Sam frowned at his older brother.

"What do you mean?" Dean shot us a confused look, I sighed and rolled my eyes at him: _boys._

"The coordinates point to Blackwater Ridge, so what are we waiting for? Let's just go find Dad. I mean, why even talk to this girl?" Sam asked, we all stopped next to Dean's car.

"I don't know, maybe we should know what we're walking into before we actually walk into it?" Dean argued back, I was silent as I looked between the two brothers, Sam looked more confused than anything else.

"What?" The younger brother asked.

"Since when are you all 'shoot first ask questions later' anyway?" Dean crossed his arms and eyed his brother suspiciously.

"Since now." Sam answered in a firm voice and turned away, refusing to catch anyone's eye. Dean glanced at me and I shrugged at him, he shrugged back and I sighed in relief when I heard the car unlock, without waiting for another moment I opened the back door and slid in.

The backcountry permit had provided me with the basic information of Haley Collins, she was around Sam's age and lived alone with her two brothers, Tommy and Ben, and had been since their parents died, the permit hadn't provided Dean a picture but it had supplied him an address. We walked up to the house in silence, I could feel the tension between the two brothers and had decided to keep out of it. Dean stepped up and knocked on the front door and we waited for someone to answer, the door opened to reveal a pretty girl with dark wavy hair and dark eyes, much like me, but she wasn't as tall or as muscled as I was. Not that this surprised me - she didn't do what I did. "You must be Haley Collins, I'm Dean, this is Sam and, er..." Dean trailed off and frowned at me, I stepped up to the doorstep and smiled warmly at her.

"Hi, I'm Stephanie," I introduced myself smoothly, "We're rangers with the park service. Ranger Wilkinson sent us over, he wanted us to ask a few questions about your older brother Tommy." I explained, the doubt that flickered in her eyes was no longer there, but she still looked suspicious.

"Let me see some ID." She asked, I faltered and looked back at Dean, edging a smile and giving him a look. He nodded and stepped up, bringing his ID out of his pocket, I glimpsed the name Dean Cole on it next to Wildlife Reserve Service. Haley's brow furrowed as she read it, then she looked up at Dean and he smiled. There was a pause. "Come on in." She moved aside and held the door wide open for us, her eyes looked at something behind us and she nodded her head to it. "That yours?" She asked. We looked back at Dean's shining black car and Dean himself nodded almost smugly to the girl. "Nice car." She nodded and walked on through, Dean followed behind. I stepped forward to the doorway and felt Sam's hand on my arm.

"Stephanie?" He asked a little dubiously.

"What? You didn't think Valkyrie was my real name, did you?" I smirked and scoffed, leaving him in the doorway. I found Dean and Hayley in the kitchen, another boy was sat at the table with his attention on a laptop, Ben, I assumed.

"So," Sam started as he leant against the kitchen counter, "If Tommy's not due back for a while, how do you know something's wrong?" He asked.

"He checks in everyday by cell. He emails, photos, stupid little videos - we haven't heard anything in three days now." She answered.

"Well, maybe he can't get any reception." I tried to reason with the girl, but she shook her head furiously.

"He's got a satellite phone too." She countered, I sighed and shrugged in return.

"Could it be he's just having fun and forgot to check in?" Dean piped up from across the room.

"He wouldn't do that." Ben frowned at Dean from the table, Dean stared him down and Ben looked back at his laptop, Haley busies herself and puts more food on the table.

"Our parents are gone. It's just me and my two brothers, we all keep pretty close tabs on eachother." The girl explained.

"Can I see the pictures he sent you?" Sam asked, Dean whipped around and sent his brother a weird look, but Sam ignored him.

"Yeah." Haley shrugged, Ben slid his seat over as Hayley pulled up a chair to the table, she clicked on some files as the three of us crowded behind her, she pulled up some pictures of a guy in various poses in a tent. "That's Tommy." She pointed at the screen, the guy in the photos looked happy. Haley clicked on a tab and a video of Tommy came up, she clicked play and we listened in.

"Hey Haley, day six, we're still out near Blackwater Ridge. We're fine, keeping safe - so don't worry, ok? Talk to you tomorrow." The video clip ended and Hayley looked up at us.

"We'll find your brother, Haley, don't worry." I smiled and beside me Dean nodded.

"Stephanie's right, we're heading out to Blackwater Ridge first thing." He confirmed, at this Haley cracked a smile.

"Then maybe I'll see you there. Look, I can't sit around here anymore. So I hired a guy, I'm heading out in the morning and I'm gonna find Tommy myself." The smile was no longer warm - it had a hard edge of determination to it.

"I think I know how you feel." Dean agreed and I knew he was talking about finding his Dad, I had seen it in his eyes: Dean wanted nothing more than to find him and make sure he was safe.

"Do you mind forwarding these to me?" Sam asked, the girl looked confused but nodded.

"Sure."

We had found the local bar and were sat at a table out the way, Sam had his laptop and John Winchester's journal out on the table. "So, Blackwater Ridge doesn't get a lot of traffic. Local campers, mostly. But still, this past April, two hikers went missing out there, they were never found." Sam stated as he opened the journal.

"Any before that?" I asked, Sam nodded and pulled out some newspaper articles and slid them across the table for Dean and I to read:

******Grizzly Bear Attacks!**

_**Up to eight hikers vanish in lost creek area – hikers disappearance baffles authorities**_

"And again in 1959 and also before that in 1936." Sam opened his laptop and began typing on it, the screen lighting up his face. "Every twenty-three years, just like clockwork. Okay, watch this - here's the clincher. I downloaded that guy Tommy's video to the laptop, check this out." Sam spun the laptop round so it faced us and clicked play, I expected to see the video Hayley had shown us but Sam had altered it, it was a two second clip with no sound, just Tommy in his tent. I frowned when I saw a shadow cross in the background and looked up at Sam.

"What was that?" I asked the boy, Sam shrugged and Dean frowned at him.

"Do it again, Sammy." Dean told him, Sam nodded and showed us again and this time it wasn't a trick of the mind: a shadow was definitely passing behind Tommy at an alarming pace.

"That's three frames. That's a fraction of a second, whatever this thing is - it can move." Sam explained, reaching his hand out to take the laptop back. Dean hit him on the wrist and Sam jumped and looked up at his brother.

"Told you something weird was going on." Dean stated in a smug voice, I rolled my eyes and Sam grinned.

"Yeah." He said in an unenthusiastic tone, giving his brother a look as he took the laptop back. "I got one more thing." Sam added, pulling a crumpled piece of paper from his jacket pocket and laid it on the table, smoothing the creases from it. I picked it up and studied it, it was an old newspaper article. "In '59 one camper survived a supposed grizzly attack. Just a kid, barely crawled out of the woods alive." Sam told us, I nodded and passed the paper back to him.

"Is there a name?" I asked.

We were stood inside the witness, Mr Shaw's, house. He was a lean, unshaven old man who stank of alcohol and cigarettes, we were stood in Mr Shaw's run down kitchen, he was leaning against the kitchen sink whilst Dean, Sam and I had chosen to stand and not touch anything.

"Look, rangers, I don't know know why you're asking me about this. It's public record, I was a kid. My parents got mauled by a-."

"Grizzly? That's what attacked them?" Sam interrupted, Mr Shaw took a puff from his cigarette and nodded thoughtfully.

"The other people that went missing that year, were those bear attacks too?" I asked him, the man paused and Dean cleared his throat.

"If we knew what we were dealing with, we might be able to stop it." Dean persuaded, Mr Shaw paused and sat at the kitchen table, Sam pulled up a chair opposite him.

"Mr Shaw, what did you see?" Sam asked gently.

"Nothing, it moved too fast to see. It hid too well, I heard it though. A roar. Like... No man or animal I've ever heard." Mr Shaw answered, he put his cigarette out and I frowned at the... Thing he'd described.

"It came at night?" I asked, Mr Shaw nodded and I cocked my head in confusion. "It got inside your tent?" I pressed.

"It got inside our cabin - I was sleeping in front of the fireplace when it came in. It didn't smash a window or break the door: it unlocked it. Do ou know of a bear that could do something like that? I didn't even wake up 'til I heard my parents screaming." The man explained, his burnt out cigarette sent up wafts of smoke around the room and it made my nose twitch.

"It killed them?" Sam took over the question asking, Mr Shaw shook his head sadly.

"Dragged them off into the night." He answered, his voice shaking and his eyes teary. "Why it left me alive... Been asking myself that ever since." He finished sadly, Mr Shaw's hands went to his collar on his old, matted shirt. "Did leave me this, though." He opened up his collar to reveal three long scars resembling claw marks, Sam looked at me and I sent him a fearful look. "There's something evil in those woods, it's some sort of demon." He finished, a long silence followed after that.

Dean, Sam and I were walking along the corridors of the motel on the edge of town, "Spirits and demons don't have to unlock doors. If they want inside, they just go through the walls." Dean pointed out, I had only recently been briefed on demons and their abilities, so I was feeling pretty left out of the conversation.

"So it's probably something else, something corporeal." Sam reasoned.

"Corporeal? Excuse me professor." Dean frowned at his younger but taller brother, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Shut up. So what do you think?" Sam asked.

"The claws, the speed that it moves... Could be a skinwalker, maybe a black dog. Whatever we're talking about, we're talking about a creature, and it's corporeal. Which means we can kill it." Dean answered with a disturbing smile.

"Right, kill it... When we only have one shotgun between us." I rolled my eyes, although I knew full well that I had my magic but I couldn't predict how Sam and Dean would react if they found out about it.

"Oh Valkyrie, Valkyrie, Valkyrie... Do you prefer Valkyrie or Stephanie?" Dean's question threw me off and I looked up at him in shock.

"What?" I asked.

"Sam told me earlier that your real name is Stephanie. I was wondering why you changed your name permanently, I mean, is there something me and Sam should know that we don't?" He explained, I stopped walking and looked at both brothers, they had stopped with me and were staring at me intently.

"Well, uh, I changed my name because it was easier." I tried, but Dean frowned and shook his head.

"Easier how, exactly? Because, sure me and Dean use fake names for jobs but everyone knows us as Dean and Sam Winchester. But you've been using Valkyrie from the start, so what's the deal?" Dean pressed, I looked from him to Sam and sighed, then took a deep breath. _Here goes nothing._

"Ok, well. My uncle died when I was eleven years old and he was a writer, he left all his royalties and stuff to me and I was staying round his house one night when a man came over demanding I let him in. I refused but he came in anyway, but someone else rescued me, he became my partner after that and he trained me to be a detective and fight and... Stuff. To do what I do, I had to leave home - so I took a new name." I shrugged and leaned back against the wall, Sam and Dean looked shocked.

"Ok, well... Wow." Sam stuttered and I managed a smile.

"Yeah, so that's why I took a new name." I shrugged again.

"So which do you prefer?" Dean asked, I paused for a moment before answering.

"I've been going with the name Valkyrie for seven years..." I paused again, "I don't mind, either is good, I guess." I stared at a spot on the floor, in the corner of my eye I saw the brothers exchange a look.

"Ok Stephanie, we don't only have one shotgun between us." Dean smirked at me, I cocked my head to one side and raised an eyebrow in question.

Outside in the parking lot, Dean opened the trunk and pointed to a huge, black box in the center of the trunk. "Sam, be a dear." He looked at his brother, Sam sighed and held open the trunk door so it wouldn't fall on Dean. Dean grabbed the box and slid it closer to him, "Only one shotgun between us, Stephanie? That's not exactly right..." Dean opened the box to reveal many, many weapons. Various knives and handguns could be seen, I could see at least five shotguns in view.

"Woah." I said in absolute awe.

"Yep. We're well prepared for, ah, various situations." Sam smiled as Dean started packing some weapons into a black duffel bag.

"Did you rob a guns store? Seriously, where did you get all this stuff?" I asked, my eyes on the rows of boxes of ammunition that were stacked on the sides of the box, Dean picked up several of them and dumped them into the bag.

"We just collected over the years, really. Loads of these are from Dad and others, but yeah. We just think: it's better to have loads than hardly any, really." Sam shrugged, I nodded as Dean zipped up the bag. "We cannot let that Hayley girl go out there." Sam stated, I looked at him, startled over the sudden change of subject.

"Oh yeah? What are we gonna tell her? That she can't go into the woods because of a big scary monster?" Dean scoffed at his brother, I half expected him to hit his younger brother on the back of the head.

"Yeah." Sam nodded, his tone firm.

"Sam, her brother's missing, I don't think she's gonna sit this one out." I told him, beside me Dean nodded.

"Steph's right, we're gonna go with her, protect her and keep our eyes peeled for our fuzzy predator friend." He said picking up the duffel bag and slinging it over his shoulder.

"Finding Dad's not enough?" Sam challenged, slamming the weapons box shut, then he slammed the trunk. I winced at the sound of the trunk and looked at Dean, expecting him to explode over his car. "Now we gotta babysit too?" He continued, Dean merely stared at his brother, it was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. "What?" Sam didn't sound as confident anymore.

"Nothing." Dean said and walked away, I looked at Sam and saw he was staring after his brother, but I couldn't read the look on his face.

The next morning we pulled up before the woods, Haley and Ben were stood in their outdoor clothes, backpacks strapped to their backs. A man in a typical hikers outfit was stood with them, looking at us suspiciously. We piled out the car and stood in front of Dean's car whilst Sam opened the back door of the car and fetching the duffel bag. "You guys got room for two more?" Dean called to Haley.

"Wait, you want to come with us?" The girl asked, Dean shrugged and nodded. The man beside Haley tapped her shoulder.

"Who are these guys?" The man asked, frowning at Dean, Sam and I. I narrowed my eyes at him and leaned over and whispered to Sam.

"This guy looks like a douche." I whispered loudly, Dean overheard me and chuckled, whilst Sam grinned.

"Apparently this is all the park service could muster up for the search and rescue." Haley cast her eyes over us, unimpressed.

"You're rangers?" The man spluttered, I smirked and nodded.

"That's right." I answered.

"And you're hiking out in biler boots and jeans?" Haley scoffed, looking down at Dean's outfit.

"Well, sweetheart, I don't do shorts." Dean smirked at the girl, I burst out laughing and followed Dean as he passed the girl, the guide standing beside Hayley reached out and grabbed my arm painfully.

"What you think this is funny? It's dangerous back country out there. Her brother might be hurt." The man seethed, I sighed heavily and kicked out at his knee, it buckled and he gasped: his grip loosened a little on my arm. I reached out with my left hand and squeezed the nerve on his forearm, he cried out and released his grip altogether. I smiled sweetly as he fell to his knees clutching his arm and pressed the pressure point on his shoulder and leaned in close to his ear.

"You'll do well to remember that I can kick your ass into next week if you so much as lay one finger on me, you son of a bitch." I spoke low and threatening into his ear, he nodded and my smile sprung up again, I let go of his shoulder and turned; everyone was staring at me in shock. "Are we ready to go?" I asked innocently, Hayley and the boys nodded and my smile stretched wider. "Great. What are we waiting for?"

The forest soon swallowed us up, the trees were so dense I couldn't see the sky, Dean had suggested that we should all stick together like a tight-knit group, but the guide, Roy, had refused to even look at me, let alone walk with me; so he walked ahead of us. "Roy, you said you do a little hunting." Dean called to him, Roy didn't look back but he answered all the same.

"Yeah, more than a little." Roy's voice drifted back to us, Dean nodded and called out to him again.

"Uh-huh, what kind of furry critters did you hunt?" He continued.

"Mostly buck, sometimes bear." The guide answered curtly, Dean's walking pace sped up and he passed by Roy and then slowed his pace, so he fell into step beside Roy.

"Tell me," Dean continued, "Uh, Bambi or Yogi ever hunt you back?" He nudged him, I started sniggering which earned me a death glare from the hiker, Roy turned and grabbed Dean and the whole group stopped: Sam looked at me and I gave him a startled glance. "Watcha doing, Roy?" Dean asked calmly, a smirk tugging the edge of his mouth. But the guide took no notice of him, he picked up a fallen stick from a tree and put it on something on the ground, there was a horrific snapping sound and I jumped and stepped forward to see: Roy had placed the stick on a bear trap Dean's foot had almost stepped on. I shot him a worried look but he didn't take notice, he called past me and to the group. "It's a bear trap." He smiled and shook it off, but Roy leaned in close to Dean and whispered to him in an almost threatening tone.

"You should watch where you're stepping. Ranger." Roy scoffed and retook the lead. Alone. Dean stared after him and then shrugged and rejoined our group.I walked with Dean for a little while until I felt the air shift behind us and I turned to see Haley catching up to us.

"You didn't pack any provisions, you guys are carrying a _duffel _bag. You're not rangers." She said angrily, pointing to the duffel bag Dean had slung over his shoulder, Dean and I exchanged a look but neither of us answered, Haley made an annoyed noise and grabbed his arm, making us come to a halt."So who the hell are you?" She demanded. Ben and Sam passed by us and Dean looked on in silence, then he turned to the girl.

"Sam and I are brothers, and we're looking for our father. He might be here, we don't know. I just figured that you and I: we're in the same boat." Dean explained, Haley's expression changed from an angry demand to a soft realisation.

"Why didn't you just tell me that from the start?" She asked, Dean pulled a face.

"I'm telling you now, besides, it's probably the most honest I've been with a woman... Ever. So we okay?" He shrugged one shoulder, Haley looked at him for a long moment and then turned to me.

"And what about you?" She asked.

"Honestly? I was almost run over by this idiot, and I'm a detective: so I'm kinda tagging along with them and saving their asses along the way." I explained, she gave me a weird look but then nodded and looked at Dean again.

"So are you two, like, a thing?" She asked, there was a moment of silence which lasted all of two seconds before I burst out laughing, ahead of us Sam and Ben turned and gave us a startled look and then continued their walk. When I stopped giggling at the odd idea and caught the hurt look on Dean's face.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry. It's just... the mere idea of you and me – makes me chuckle." I grinned, Haley smiled and we continued walking, she seemed much happier now.

"Anyway, what do you mean I didn't pack provisions?" Dean asked Haley, she turned with a confused look on her face and was met with Dean pulling out a bag of M&M's and sticking his hand in it, Haley stared at him and I chuckled as I moved on and caught up with Sam and Ben.

After twenty minutes of more walking Sam, Ben, Hayley, Dean and I were taking a break and sitting on a large rock that we had deemed suitable to sit on. "Haley! Over here!" Roy's voice called out to us and we took off at a run in the direction in which it came from.

"Oh my God." Haley exclaimed, shock in her tone. I looked up and saw a ruined campsite... Although ruined didn't even begin to describe the scene before me: the tents were savagely slashed open, blood splattered various parts of it, what were once supplies were scattered around or smashed.

"Looks like a grizzly." Roy observed, looking grimly around the campsite. I gave Sam a look as Dean and Haley searched the savaged site.

"Tommmy?" The girl called, throwing down her backpack and walking through the ravaged site, "Tommy!" She shouted out his name even ouder, Sam ran up to the girl and gave her a panicked look.

"Shh." He said.

"Tommy!" Haley was screaming now, Sam looked at her and then at the dark forest.

"Shhhhhh!" He shushed her even louder.

"Why?"

"Something might still be out there." He answered in a low voice.

"Sam! Steph!" Dean called, we both walk over to where the older brother was crouched a little way from the campsite. "The bodies were dragged from the campsite," Dean pointed to a the overturned soil leading in a trail away from the bloodied scene, "But here, the tracks just vanish. It's weird." Dean pointed to where the overturned soil just disappeared.

"What does that mean?" I asked, giving the boys a confused look as we stood up.

"I'll tell you what, that's no skinwalker or black dog." Dean replied, Sam and I followed him back to the campsite, I spotted Haley crying and looking at something in her hands, my insides turned cold as I saw it was her brother's phone, bloodied and broken in her hands. I walked over and crouched down beside her, my arm wrapped comfortingly around her shoulder, she jumped and looked up at me with teary eyes.

"Hey, he could still be alive." I whispered to her, she merely sniffed and I prepared myself for the onslaught of the crying girl.

"Help! Help!" A male's voice called from the treeline, I caught Sam's eyes and everyone took off sprinting in the direction of the call, we slowed to a stop when we couldn't find anyone.

"It seemed like it was coming from around here, didn't it?" I asked the group, they nodded and we were all silent as we listened out for another cry.

"Everybody back to camp." Sam ordered, we nodded in agreement and walked back to camp.

"Our packs!" Haley exclaimed as we reached the site, I looked around and saw that the girl was right: everyone's bags had been taken, including Dean and Sam's duffel bag of weapons.

"So much for my GPS and my satellite phone." I heard Roy sigh from behind me.

"What the hell is going on?" Haley asked, I recognised hysteria bleeding in through her panicked tones.

"It's smart, it wants to cut us off so we can't call for help." Sam explained, shooting Dean a worried look.

"You mean someone, some nutjob out there just stole all our gear." Roy replied, but he didn't get an answer I walked over to Sam with a concerned look on my face.

"What is it? What's wrong?" I asked him in a low voice so the other's wouldn't overhear, he grabbed my arm and tugged me over to where Dean was.

"I need to speak with you both. In private." Sam told us, we both nodded and headed over to where we were crouched looking at the tracks of someone being dragged away from the site. "Let me see Dad's journal. "He looked at his older brother, Dean nodded and pulled out the book from his jacket pocket. Sam flipped through it until he found a particular page, "All right, check that out." He said, pointing to a hastily but neatly drawn picture of a shaded picture.

"Oh come on, Wendigos are in the Minnesota woods or – or Northern Michigan, I've never even heard of one this far west." Dean shook his head angrily at his younger brother, but Sam wouldn't back down.

"Think about it, Dean: the claws, the way it can mimic a human voice." Sam pressed, his eyes wide and boring deep into his brother's eyes.

"Wait, wait wait, I thought the Wendigos were just a myth: you know, the flesh eating giving it super-human abilities? It can't be real." I held up a hand and shook my head at Sam, Dean chuckled and grasped my shoulder's and looked down at me.

"Oh Stephanie, think again, sweet-cheeks." He grinned and I glared slits at him.

"Don't call me that!" I moaned and Dean chuckled again. "Anyway, so what can kill the Wendigo?" I asked, Dean sighed and reached into his other pocket and pulled out his pistol.

"Definitely not this, it's rendered useless against the so of a bitch." He complained and angrily shoved it back into his pocket.

"Oh joy of joys." I moaned and rolled my eyes.

"We don't need to worry about that now, we need to get these people to safety." Sam replied, we all nodded and walked back into the middle of the site where Ben, Haley and Roy had gathered.

"All right, listen up: it's time to go. Things have gotten... More complicated." He addressed the group, Haley was the first to speak up.

"What?" She asked.

"Kid, don't worry. Whatever's out there, I think I can handle it." Roy gave Sam the most patronising look, making me narrow my eyes at the arrogant guide.

"It's not me I'm worried about. If you shoot this thing, you're just gonna make it mad. We have to leave. Now." Sam warned the group, but Roy shook his head in disagreement.

"One, you're talking nonsense. Two, you're in no position to give anybody orders." The guide argued and I sighed loudly.

"Just shut up, Rick." I glared at the man, he looked shocked for a moment before his eyes turned dark with anger.

"Why you insolent little-." He started striding towards me but Dean stepped forward with his hands out.

"Hey hey hey, relax." Dean tried.

"We never should have let you come out here in the first place, all right? I'm trying to protect you." Sam continued, giving me a warning look but I ignored it.

"You protect me? I was hunting these woods when your Mommy was still kissing you good night." Roy scoffed, stepping up into Sam's face.

"Yeah? It's a damn near perfect hunter. It's smarter than you, and it's gonna hunt you down and eat you alive unless we get your stupid sorry ass out of here." Sam warned again, looking down at the everyone's surprise the ranger merely laughed at him.

"You know you're crazy, right?" He sniggered, looking at the three of us in amazement.

"Yeah? You ever hunt a wen-." Sam was interrupted by Dean shoving him and giving him a look.

"Roy!" Haley called to her guide and he walked off.

"Chill out, both of you." He said, looking between Sam and I.

"Stop. Stop it," Haley looked at her guide in annoyance, "Everybody just stop, look, Tommy might still be alive. And I'm not leaving here without him." She stated, a long pause followed her statement.

"It's getting late, this thing is a good hunter in the day, but an unbelievable hunter at night. We'll never beat it, not in the dark – we need to settle in and protect ourselves." Dean broke the silence with his advice, Haley crossed her arm and raised an eyebrow at him: that was _my _thing.

"How?" She asked him.

Dean and Sam were drawing out symbols on the dirt and had told me to light the campfire, Haley was talking with her brother and Roy was staring at Sam and Dean. I checked to see that no one was looking and clicked my fingers and conjured a flame in my hand, pouring my energy into it before dropping it onto the fire. The wood instantly caught fire and the glow from the roaring flames illuminated the surrounding area. "Thanks, Stephanie!" Haley called over to me, I merely shrugged and gave her a small smile before walking back to where Dean and Sam were drawing on the ground.

"Run it by me again – what are those?" I asked the older brother.

"Anasazi symbols, they're for protection, the wendigo can't cross over them." He explained, behind us Roy laughed, the fire illuminated his silhouette and making his shodow large and dark, stretching out towards us. "Nobody likes a skeptic, Roy." Dean called out over to the ranger. Once Dean had finished we headed over to where Sam was seated on the edge of the campsite. "You wanna tell me what's going on in that freaky head of yours?" He asked, ruffling his younger brother's hair.

"I'm-."

"No, you're not fine. You're like a power keg, man – it's not like you. I'm supposed to be the belligerent one, remember?" Dean cut Sam off before he could so much as utter the words: _I'm fine_.

"Dad's not here. I mean, that much we know for sure, right? He would've left us a message, a sign, right?" Sam asked, his voice riddled with doubt. Dean sighed and nodded.

"Yeah, you're probably right To tell you the truth, I don't think Dad's ever been to Lost Creek." He agreed, I watched the two in silence, the orange glow from the fire lighting up one half of their faces in the dark.

"Then let's get these people back to town and let's hit the road. Go find Dad. I mean, why are we still even here?" Sam questioned.

"This is why." Dean answered, he pulled out his Dad's journal from his pocket and held it up for the two of us to see. "This book, this is Dad's single most valuable possession – everything he knows about every evil thing is in here. And he's passed it onto us, I think he wants us to pick up where he left off. You know: saving people, hunting things – the family business." He explained, flicking through the pages of the battered journal for emphasis.

"That makes no sense, why doesn't he just call us? Why doesn't he tell us what he wants, tell us where he is?" Sam shook his head in annoyance and held his head in his hands, rubbing his temples.

"I dunno, but the way I see it: Dad's giving us a job to do, and I intend to do it." Dean shrugged and Sam lifted his head out his hands and gave his older brother a serious look.

"No, I gotta find Dad. I gotta find Jessica's killer. It's the only thing I can think about." He admitted in a quiet voice.

"Okay, all right. Sam, we'll find them, I promise. Listen to me, you've gotta prepare yourself. This search could take a while, and all that anger, you can't keep it burning over the long haul, it's gonna kill you... You gotta have patience, man." Dean explained to his brother.

"How do you do it? How does Dad do it?" Sam suddenly asked, Dean sighed and took a deep breath, his gaze switched from us to the people behind us.

"Well for one, them." He explained, Sam and I both looked over to where Dean was looking and saw he was watching Ben and Haley sat next to the fire, Haley's arm was draped over her younger brother's shoulder. "I mean, I figure our family's so screwed to hell, maybe we can help some others. Make things a little bit more bearable." He shrugged and broke his gaze from the boy and girl crouched next to the fire. "I'll tell you what else helps." He added, Sam and I looked back to Dean, the older brother paused for needless effect. "Killing as many evil sons of bitches as I possibly can." He smirked, I giggled and Sam edged a smile, behind us a twig snapped off in the forest and we both jumped and looked into the deep, dark woods.

"Help me! Please!" A voice begged from the darkness, we all stood up at the same time and looked off into the forest, Dean pulled his gun from his pocket and readied it. "Help!" The cry of despair continued, some of the trees closest to us were lit up when Sam flicked a torch on and shone it round.

"He's trying to draw us out. Just stay cool, stay put." I called over to the group, trying to harness some comfort into the crowd.

"Inside the magic circle?" Roy sent me a questioning look and I glared at him.

"It's either stay put here, or I feed you to it." I bit out at him.

"Help! Help me!" The wendigo continued, the hysteric tones drifted over to us. It was quiet when no one moved, then a deep, monstrous growling emitted from the forest and Roy pointed his gun at the sound.

"Okay, that's no grizzly." He admitted, his gun trained on a single spot in the woods.

"It's ok, you'll be alright. I promise." Haley was speaking to her brother and hugging him tightly, speaking soothing tones in Ben's ear as she comforted him. I felt the air shift violently in front of me and felt the wind rush past as something dashed around the area in front of us, I widened my eyes in amazement and fear: _what creature could run at such a blinding speed? How can we kill it, if we can't even _see _it?_

"It's here." I muttered to the two brother's, they were stood at the edge of the circle and looking out into the forest. There was a rustling in the trees about two metres to my left, I jumped when I head a gunshot and dived to the right, jumping again as a second shot was fired.

"I hit it!" Roy's triumphant shout sounded behind me and he ran past me to the forest.

"Roy, no! Roy!" Dean called after him, he turned to Ben and Haley and gave them both stern looks, "Don't move." He ordered, then the three of us tore after the guide into the forest: the exact place where I _did not_ want to go.

"It's over here! It's in the tree!" We saw Roy pointing up at a tree, a wide grin set on his face. I felt the air shift above him and saw something, a flicker of a thing, reach down and grab Roy's neck and a sickening crunch sounded. I cried out and blinked, that's it: one blink and Roy had disappeared, the wendigo had disappeared.

I was quiet at the campsite for the rest of the night, it shook me to see something kill someone with such ease, and I felt even worse because I didn't exactly like the guy, so not feeling bad at all was just the worst. "He ran right by me, I mean I could've just grabbed him and stopped him... Maybe if-."

"Steph stop it. You couldn't have done anything to prevent Roy running out away from the site, ok?" Dean called over to me I looked up and he was giving me a small, unconvincing smile.

"Yeah." I muttered and went back to staring at the outer circles on a tree stump.

"I don't... I mean, these types of things – they aren't supposed to be real." Haley spoke up: on the way back to the campsite last night shortly after Roy's disappearance Sam and Dean had made the decision to tell Haley and Ben about the supernatural world.

"I wish I could tell you different." Dean sighed sadly and gave the poor girl a sympathetic look.

"How do we know it's not out there watching us?" She asked, her dark eyes darting around the forest beyond the campsite.

"We don't-."

"It is." The words came tumbling out of my mouth before I could stop them, I closed my eyes and sighed, at least it was the truth: I could feel the air shift slightly, the currents dabbling lightly under my palms letting me know that the wendigo was out there and close by.

"But we're safe for now..." Dean finished, giving me an odd look as I turned slowly to face the crowd.

"Ok. Great... How do you all know about this stuff?" Haley asked, she gave me a questioning look before switching her gaze to Dean. Dean paused a while as he considered the question, he suddenly shrugged with a wide smirk painted on his face.

"Kinda runs in the family." He answered, Haley nodded slowly and it was silent for a while, Sam walked over and smiled at us all.

"Hey," He addressed the crowd, "So we've got half a chance in the daylight, and I for one want to kill this evil son of a bitch.

"Well, hell you know I'm in." Dean smiled at his brother, Sam smiled back at his older brother and I felt all the more safer.

"Need you ask?" I piped up, Sam grinned at me and I shrugged one shoulder, I stood up from the tree stump and stretched my legs. I walked over to the group as Sam was showing the drawing of the wendigo from his Dad's journal to Ben and Haley.

"Wendigo is a Cree Indian word. It means 'evil that devours'." He told the group, pointing to the drawing whilst Dean came up and stood next to his brother.

"They're hundreds of years old. Each one was once a man, sometimes an Indian. Other times a frontiersman or a miner or hunter." Dean explained, Haley and Ben nodded slowly, glancing from Dean to the drawing.

"How's a man turn into one of those things?" Haley asked, Dean made a grim expression and got his pistol out and started fiddling with it.

"Well, it's the same thing every time. During some harsh winter a guy finds himself starving, cut off from supplies or help. Becomes a cannibal to survive, eating other members of his tribe or group." He said, unloading and fiddling with the bullets.

"Like the Donner Party." Ben muttered.

"Cultures all over the world believe that eating human flesh gives a person certain abilities: speed, strength and immortality." Sam continued, his eyes flickered to the area in the forest where we had run after Roy last night, and guilt washed over me again.

"If you eat enough of it, over the years, you become this... less than human thing. You're always hungry." Dean explained, his nose twitching in disgust as he described the monster that lurked in the woods.

"So, if that's true: how can Tommy still be alive?" Haley asked, Dean shifted uncomfortably and glanced at the girl.

"You're not gonna like it." He hedged, unwilling to share the information that he held. He glanced at Sam and then back to Haley, she looked unfazed at the two boys.

"Tell me." She ordered, her tone firm and her expression fixed in hard sangfroid.

"More than anything, a wendigo knows how to last long winters without food. It hibernates for years at a time, but when it's awake it keeps its victims alive. It, uh, it stores them, so it can feed whenever it wants. If your brother's alive, it's keeping him somewhere dark, hidden, and safe. We gotta track it back there." Dean explained, Haley's face drained and went as white as a sheet. I looked down and saw that her legs were shaking a little.

"And then how do we stop it?" She asked, forcing the fear out of her voice.

"Well," Dean looks down at his gun and made an annoyed face, "Guns are useless, so are knives. Basically..." Dean held up a battered can of lighter fluid, a beer bottle and a torn piece of the tent, "We gotta torch the bastard." He smiled, I couldn't help but grin and shake my head at him.

Dean led the way through the woods, I held my hands out discreetly to my side to detect any, _any_ movement that passed by us, Dean was at the front armed with his man-made flamethrower, I was close behind him ready to warn the group in case I saw something unusual. Sam was behind the group keeping an eye out for Haley and Ben as they walked close beside eachother. I felt the air shift and brush against my palms and I stopped walking and looked around the woods, my ears straining to hear that horribly familiar whooshing noise that indicated the wendigo was nearby. I looked up and noticed something on the trees, I squinted and then realised what they were. "Sam. Dean." I called them over.

"What is it?" Dean asked as he and Sam neared. I nodded my head upwards and they looked up at the trees: there were bloodied patches on the trunks and there were deep, vicious grooves that were unmistakeably claw marks.

"You know, those claw prints, they seem almost... too clear, too easy to follow." Sam observed, I found myself nodding: he was right, the marks seemed like they had been put there intentionally. A twig snapped and a deep growling came from the bushes to our right, the three of us whipped around to it, I held my palms out trying to feel for the air currents against my palms. Haley was stood under a tree looking up with us, I heard a familiar dripping sound and I looked over to her. I cringed when I saw a dark red seeping on her shoulder, Haley looked up and then dived out the way, a corpse landed where she was stood. The corpse rolled over and I recognised it as Roy, Haley cried, jumped up and ran over to us, she threw her arms round me and cried whilst Dean walked over and inspected the body.

"His neck's broke." Dean observed grimly as I tried to prise myself away from the distraught girl. Growling sounded behind us and I shot Sam a panicked look. "Okay, run, run, run, run, go, go, go!" Dean exclaimed, we all took off through the trees, Dean and I veered off to the left and I risked to look behind me and relaxed when we saw it was Haley – of course she would follow Dean instead of Sam. The whooshing noise passed beside us and I went left whilst Dean and Haley continued onwards, I tripped and fell over a tree root and sprawled on the floor. Strong arms grasped my waist and suddenly I was up on my feet again, I went to lash out with my arm: expecting it to be the wendigo. A hand caught my fist and my eyes widened when I saw Sam.

"Come on, I gotcha, I gotcha." Sam's voice was in my ear and I nodded, my eyes wide with fright. I slowed down when I felt the air for anything that may have been in pursuit and came up with nothing, Sam and Ben stopped with me and we stood gasping for air. "Why did you stop? The wendigo coul-."

"The wendigo isn't following us, Sam." I told him, Sam frowned at me.

"How could you possibly know that?!" Sam gave me a confused look, I opened my mouth to lie but a scream cut me off.

"Haley?" Ben looked at us in panic, we tore after the noise and stopped short when we saw a familiar item on the ground, Sam stooped and picked it up: it was Dean's home made flamethrower. Fear seeped through me as Sam looked wildly around the forest for his brother.

"Dean!" He shouted.

Sam, Ben and I were hiking, yet again, through the forest. "If it keeps its victims alive, why would it kill Roy?" Ben asked, he seemed to have gained more confidence since Haley had disappeared: I think it was the adrenaline mixed with the burning desire to retrieve his older siblings.

"Honestly? I think because Roy shot at it, pissed it off." Sam answered bluntly, I blinked in surprise but shook it off: Sam was much more concerned to kill this wendigo and get Dean back more than ever. Ben stopped walking and picked something up from the ground, I expected it to be a finger or something cliché like that, but it was an M&M.

"They went this way." Ben pointed up ahead of him and I saw another bunch of the brightly coloured sweets scattered around next to a fallen tree, Sam took the sweet from Ben and laughed.

"It's better than breadcrumbs." Sam shrugged and I managed a laugh as he tossed the M&M away into the green tundra. It was much easier now we were following Dean's trail, we soon reached an entrance that looked like it led to an abandoned mine, there was a large sign with large, red writing:

**WARNING! DANGER! DO NOT ENTER – EXTREMELY TOXIC MATERIAL! NO ADMITTANCE!**

Sam looked up at the sign and then at me, I shrugged and walked on inside, resisting the urge to click my fingers and conjure a flame so I could see through the darkness of the damp, gloomy mine. A few more steps and I was tempted to expose myself for the ability of sight. Thankfully Sam's torch flashed on and a white beam cut through the gloom, deep, ferocious growling sounded ahead of us and the torch beam cut off and we flattened ourselves against the wall, the wendigo prowled towards us in the dark, stones skittering across the floor in the pitch black as it neared us. I held my breath as the sound of the wendigo passed by us, we waited a minute when silence fell, another half a minute before Sam flicked his torch on again. We continued on in the opposite direction the wendigo had gone, our feet left the hard, stony earth and went on wooden floorboards, they creaked and groaned under our weight and then suddenly the broke open, the three of us tumbled down and crashed onto the cold, damp ground. I felt a sickening crunch beside me and saw Sam's foot resting on a broken skull that must have shattered when he landed on it, Ben suddenly leapt backward and Sam steadied him. "Hey, it's okay. It's okay." Sam shushed him, Ben nodded, his breathing heavy. I saw Sam's torch in the corner of the room, the light still shining brightly, I got up and walked over to the small object on shaky legs. I stooped and picked it up, ignoring the protests that my aching muscles made, once the torch was in my grip I shone it over Sam and Ben, they both looked fine. I surveyed the shaft we had fallen down and rope hanging from the ceiling caught my eye, the beam traced down the rope and I gasped at who was hanging on the end of it.

"Dean!" I called out, throwing the torch to Sam and Ben and rushing over to him, he was unconscious but seemed alright, albeit a little bloody. Sam was soon next to me, shaking his shoulders roughly, fear painted on the younger brother's face.

"Dean!" He begged, slapping him lightly on the face, I sighed in relief when Dean opened his eyes and winced.

"Dean, you ok?" I asked him, he nodded slowly.

"Yeah." He groaned, beside us Ben was trying to awaken his sister.

"Haley, Haley. Wake up, wake up!" Ben was saying to his sister, I searched the floor for a stone sharp enough to cut through the rope that bound Dean. I found a stone that would do the trick, if enough force was applied. I jumped when Dean lands on the ground next to me, his hands free, he leaned against me as he coughed painfully, I grabbed one arm whilst Sam grabbed the other and we carefully led Dean to the floor as he sat down painfully on the floor.

"You sure you're alright?" Sam asked his brother, Dean grimaced but nodded all the same.

"Yeah. Yep. Where is he?" Dean asked.

"He's gone for now." I told him, beside us Haley was conscious and staggering over to something in the far corner of the shaft.

"Tommy..." She cried mournfully, I looked up and saw she was looking at another body hanging from the ceiling. In the halflight she touched the boy's cheek and he jerked awake, Haley jumped back and shrieked before turning to me.

"Cut him down, now!" She demanded, I narrowed my eyes at her attitude but held my hand out to Sam for the rock he used to free Dean. He handed it to me and I strode over to the boy, presumably Tommy, and I cut him down. Tommy fell and weakly slumped into Haley's arms, she stroked his head soothingly and whispered into his ear soothingly, "We're gonna get you home." She told him, Ben had picked up the torch and was shining it around the room.

"Look! Our stuff." Ben said, we turned around to where Ben was shining the light and we were met with the familiar sight of our stolen packs. I walked over to our duffel bag and zipped it open, there were flare guns on top of the many weapons in the bag, I held them up and smirked at the two brothers.

"Check it out, you said fire can kill it, right?" I said, Sam managed a sideways grin as he looked up from his brother.

"Flare guns, those'll work." He grinned wider and I laughed and twirled the guns in my hands. Haley and Ben were supporting their brother behind us. The all too familiar deep, primal growling echoed around the mine, I looked frantically around for the monster but couldn't see it anywhere.

"Looks like someone's home for supper." Dean joked, but it didn't calm the Collin's like I knew he wanted to.

"We'll never outrun it." Haley stated hopelessly, Dean cast a look back at the three siblings.

"You two thinking what I'm thinking?" Dean's gaze returned to Sam and I, Sam nodded but I frowned.

"Yeah, I think so." Sam replied, Dean looked over at me and we locked eyes.

"Alright, listen to me, Steph, stay with Sam and the other's - I'm trusting you and him to protect the others." Dean addressed me, he was trusting me to help Sam and him save Haley and her brothers. I nodded firmly and he smiled.

"What are you gonna do?" Haley called to him, he caught my eye and winked before breaking away from the group and sprinting off in the distance.

"Chow time, you freaky bastard! Yeah, that's right, bring it on, baby. I taste _good_." I heard Dean's taunting yell as he faded out in the distance as we ran along.

"Alright, come on! Hurry!" Sam urged the group, Haley nodded and we continued on down the tunnel.

Growling echoed down the tunnel behind us and Sam and I stopped and allowed Tom, Ben and Haley to pass in front of us, Sam had his gun trained on the dark passageway.

"Why are you stopping? Come on." Haley said to us, Sam and I shook our heads at her.

"Get him outta here." Sam told her, the girl shook her head.

"Sam, Stephanie, no." She disagreed.

"Go, go, go!" Sam shouted at them, Ben grabbed his sister's arm and looked at her.

"Come on, Haley!" Ben told her, she caved and they both help their injured brother down the tunnel. Immediately Sam and I whirled, Sam's gun up and ready to fire at anything, _anything _that lurked in the dark.

"Come on. Come on." Sam murmured, the growling got deeper and louder, the air shifted wildly around us and I let out a scream when the wendigo appeared in front of us, it had the shape and rough build of a man, but it's skin was dark and leathery and it's face was something monstrous. Something inhuman. It bared its fangs at us and roared, Sam fired the flare gun but I saw the flare miss and illuminate the tunnel behind the wendigo. "Run!" He yelled and we sprinted away and reached Haley and her brothers, they stopped and looked back at us.

"Sam! Stephanie!" She called out to us, the air shifted again behind me and I sent them a look of urgency.

"Come on, hurry, hurry, hurry." I told them, they turned again and started hurrying to the edge of the tunnel where daylight was draping in.

"Get behind me." Sam says, I looked up at him and shook my head.

"I can help." I argued, but Sam shook his head.

"Stephanie, I'm the one with the only weapon that can kill it." He finalized, "Just stay here." He grabbed me and shoved me behind him, we backed up until I bumped into Ben and saw the wall we had been backed up into. I waited two seconds before I glared at the monster.

"Screw this." I scoffed and stepped past Sam, he look at me with wide eyes.

"What are you doing?!" He cried out to me, but I ignored him, the wendigo watched as I stepped away from the group and smirked as it followed after me, I clicked my fingers and smiled as the wendigo stopped and actually tilted it's head in confusion. I threw the fire ball in my hand and grinned as it hit the wendigo in the stomach, the fire seared through it's torso and it went up in flames. "Finally." I sighed and turned to the group, they were looking at me in shock.

"What the _hell_ was that?" Haley exclaimed, I managed a wry grin despite everything.

"Long story." I answered, footsteps approached behind us and Dean approached us, his gun aimed and ready.

"Where is the son of a bitch?" He demanded, looking like a child who'd been cheated in a game.

"Uhh..."

I stood with Sam as Ben, Sam and I were interviewed by a police officer, a little way off Dean and Haley were talking whilst Tommy was getting loaded into the ambulance."And the bear came back again after you yelled at it?" The officer asked us.

"That's when it circled the campsite. I mean, this grizzly must have weighed eight hundred, nine hundred pounds." Ben answered, the officer glanced at Sam and I and we both nodded convincingly.

"Alright, we'll go after it first thing." The officer said and I smiled widely at him.

"Thank you, officer." I said politely, the officer walked off and Ben turned to us.

"So, I guess me and Haley can't thank you enough for what you guys did back there for us." Ben smiled, Sam and I shrugged at the same time.

"It's nothing, really." Sam answered.

"Running for our lives through some godforsaken mine is not nothing." Ben shook his head in disagreement, "Thank you both so much for your help." He repeated, I nodded and then I was suddenly being enveloped in a tight hug.

"Ben... Struggling to breathe." I gasped, he nodded and let go and I sucked in great lungfuls of air whilst Sam laughed.

"Thanks man." Sam shook Ben's hand and we walked over to Dean and Haley, she was kissing him on the cheek and looking up into his eyes dreamily.

"I hope you find your father again." She said to Dean in an earnest voice, she turned and passed us and stopped and looked at the two of us. "Thanks, Sam," The girl smiled up at him, Sam nodded and then she turned to me, "Stephanie, I don't know how you can do the things that you did but they saved me and my family's life. Thank you for that." She looked at me gratefully, I pulled a face and shrugged.

"It really wasn't that much trouble, Haley, but you're welcome." I smiled at her, she nodded and headed off to the ambulance with her younger brother. We joined Dean leaning on the hood of his car as we watched the ambulance drive away.

"Guys, I hate camping." He stated and I smiled and nodded in agreement.

"Me too." Sam agreed.

"Sam, you know you're gonna find Dad, right?" Dean asked.

"Yeah, I know. But in the meantime?" He looked over at me, "You have some explaining to do, and you," He turned to Dean, "I'm driving."

**Author's Note: Thank you so much for your previous reviews, when I get to 5 I will upload Chapter 3!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note: 6 reviews! It really does tell me your enthusiasm for this story, and don't you worry: I'm taking all your criteria and trying to apply it to improve this story.**

Winchester and Cain Chapter 03 – Dead in the Water

_Valkyrie's P.O.V_

We had decided to stop at a hotel called The Lynnwood Inn, Sam had been playing the game of twenty questions ever since we had pulled out of Blackwater Ridge and onto the highway, and even after I had told him basically my whole life story he still seemed to have a countless number of questions for me. "So, if there are two bases of magic, is there a stronger one than the other? I mean, which is stronger – an elemental or an adept?" He asked, I pulled a face as I tried to pick my words carefully for an answer.

"Well it really depends, Sam, an adept doesn't always have to be attack-based: it can be mental-based too. Like, I know quite a few psychics, they're known as Sensitives. An elemental's power relies, of course, on the four elements: Fire, Earth, Air and Water." I explained, Sam nodded and leaned in closer with curiosity shining in his dark eyes.

"I noticed a few things about you, when we were chased off that bridge by Constance Welch's ghost you and Dean fell straight into the river and came out soaking wet, I remember Dean and I checked to see if the car was okay almost immediately after, and when we turned back to you I remember you were bone dry, just a little muddy." Sam responded, I nodded slowly and opened my mouth to speak, but I was cut off.

"And when we were at the campsite yesterday you said the wendigo was still out there, even though we couldn't see it or anything – you sounded so sure, Steph. How did you know?" Dean piped up, looking up from the newspaper he was looking at. I gave them both a small smile and nodded again.

"That's because I'm an elemental, I can... manipulate the elements and control them to some degree. Yesterday I was using the air to detect the wendigo when we were in Blackwater Ridge, when we were thrown off the bridge I used the air again to dry myself whilst you and Dean checked his car." I explained, the two brothers stared at me in amazement, I shifted uncomfortably and drummed the first few bars of _Man in the Wilderness _by_ Styx _on the table.

"So, uh, aside the fire throwing, the air using and all. Is there anything else we should know about?" Dean asked, I stopped tapping and looked at the ring on my finger and sighed and took it off and held it up for them to see.

"When someone like me reaches a certain age, they have their Surge – after that you can only be an Adept or an Elemental, never both. I haven't had my Surge yet, and I've kind of dabbled a little." I explained, putting the ring back on my finger, instantly I felt better with it on.

"Dabbled in what?" Sam asked.

"It's nothing." I decided, hopefully they wouldn't have to know the talent I had for the manipulation of death-magic. Sam frowned an opened his mouth to say something but was interrupted by a waitress coming over.

"Can I get you three anything else?" She asked, giving a dentist ad smile. Dean looked up from his newspaper and grins at her, I roll my eyes and smiled politely up at the girl.

"Just the cheque, please." I asked her, the waitress's smile faded a little when she turned to me, and I saw hostility in her eyes.

"Okay." She answered and walked away, Dean stared longingly after her for a moment before looking at us.

"You know, guys, we are allowed to have fun once in a while." Dean sighed, and turned and pointed to the waitress, "That's fun." He did that charming grin of his but it dropped when neither Sam or I smiled back at him. Dean rolled his eyes and slid the newspaper he had been pouring over all morning to us, I frowned when I saw he'd circled an obituary. "Here, take a look at this, I think I got one. Lake Manitoc, Wisconsin. Last week Sophie Carlton, eighteen, walks into the lake, doesn't walk out. Authorities dragged the water; nothing. Sophie Carlton is the third Lake Manitoc drowning this year – none of the other bodies were found either, they had a funeral two days ago." Dean cliff-noted for me while Sam read the article, he looked up at his brother in confusion.

"A funeral?" He asked, confusion lacing his tone.

"Yeah, it's weird, they buried an empty coffin. For, uh, closure or whatever." Dean replied with a shrug.

"Closure? What closure?" I asked, the two boys both looked up at me and I shrugged, "I mean, people don't just disappear, guys. Other people just stop looking for them." Dean narrowed his eyes at me and leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table.

"Something you want to say to me?" He demanded, I didn't even bat an eyelid at the angry older brother.

"The trail for your Dad, it's getting colder every day." I pointed out and Dean nodded.

"Exactly, so what are we supposed to do?" He asked again, to this I had no answer to.

"I don't know, your guess is as good as mine: Something, anything." I shrugged, unfazed by his sudden anger.

"You know what? I'm already sick of Sam's attitude, if you start, Stephanie I swear to God I will leave you on the road and leave you. I swear it's like you and Sam think I don't wanna find Dad at all." He bit out, I saw the hurt in his eyes and decided to backtrack a little.

"Yeah, I know you want to find him. It's just-."

"Look, Stephanie. I'm the one who's been with him every single day for the past two years, while Sammy here has been off to college going to pep rallies. Mark my words we will find my Dad, but until then, we're gonna kill everything and anything bad between here and there. Got it?" He grated, I nodded once whilst beside me Sam rolled his eyes at his older brother.

"Dean, don't be harsh to Stephanie, she's probably just frustrated about the wild goose chase we're on for finding Dad." Sam defended me, but it was needless. The waitress had walked by and Dean was distracted, Sam snapped his fingers in front of him, "Hey, hey, hey!" He said, Dean's head snapped back to us and he sent us a slightly dazed look.

"Huh?"

"Never mind," Sam sighed, then he drummed his hands on the table, "Lake Manitoc, how far?" He asked.

I fell asleep in the car and woke up to the car driving past a sign that read:

**WELCOME TO LAKE MANITOC WI**

Dean and Sam were arguing, once again, over Dean's music choice. "That's it, Dean. I can't take it anymore, I'm gonna get you an Ipod and we are both gonna sit down together and add music that we _both_ like and it will make these car rides more enjoyable." Sam moaned and Dean shook his head violently.

"Sorry Sammy, only you like _Bangles _in the family. And besides, we've been through this. Family rules, remember." Dean glared at him and then turned his attention back to the driving, Sam opened his mouth to retaliate but then sighed and stayed quiet. "I just don't understand why you complain all the time, Stephanie doesn't." Dean pointed out.

"That's because she's normally asleep in the back." Sam sighed and I leant forward and tapped him on the back, he jumped and snapped his head back and glared, whilst Dean laughed loudly from the driver's seat. "Don't do that! It's not funny!" Sam glared daggers at me and I smirked.

"You should have seen your face!" Dean had a grin so wide I was worried his face was going to split.

Dean was still giggling as we pulled up outside a house located on the edge of town, Sam had sulked for the rest of the way whilst I was rifling through Dean's music collection, I had to say: it wasn't too bad. "Sombre faces on, team." Dean sighed as we walked up to the house, I made sure I had the correct fake ID in my pockets in case we had to get them checked. He knocked on the door and a man who looked to be in his late twenties opened it. "Will Carton?" Dean asked, remembering the name from the obituary this morning.

"Yeah, that's right." He answered, his eyes glanced at me and Sam, lingering particularly on me. I subconsciously looked back and stepped out of view behind the brothers.

"I'm Agent Ford, this is Agent Hamill and Agent Bonham." He said, gesturing to each of us as he introduced us. "We're with the US Wildlife Service." He said in a professional voice and held up his fake ID.

"Ok, come on through, Dad's through here." Will opened the door wide open for us and we all walked through the shabby house, dirty dishes and outdated newspapers littered everywhere and empty beer cans were piled up on tables and chairs. We were led all through the house and out the back door, the lake was a short walk down the end of the Carlton's garden and through a short stretch of woodland. The lake stretched far out from a small dock and the surface shimmered in the sunlight, an aging man was sat on a chair on the dock looking out at the sparkling surface.

"She was about a hundred yards out." The man rasped sadly, his voice throaty.

"That's where she got dragged down." Will pointed out to a spot on the lake.

"And you're sure she didn't just drown?" I asked, doubt seeping into my tone.

"She was a varsity swimmer." Will stated flatly, I frowned and nudged the two boys.

"What's a varsity swimmer?" I whispered, Sam smiled a little and shook his head.

"It doesn't matter, Steph." He rolled his eyes and I sighed. _Americans._

"Yeah, she practically grew up in this lake, she was as safe out there as in her own bathtub." Will continued, looking at me like I was an idiot. It annoyed me to no end.

"So, uh, no splashing? No signs of distress?" Sam took over, seeing me glaring at the young Carlton.

"No, that's what I'm telling you." Will shook his head.

"Did you see any shadows in the water? Maybe some dark breach in the surface?" Sam asked, both the Carltons looked at Sam weirdly, they exchanged a look and then looked back at us.

"No. Again, she was really far out there." Will stated, his toe firm and slightly annoyed.

"You ever see any strange tracks by the shoreline?" Dean asked, sensing Will's irritation at Sam.

"No. Never. Why? What do you think's out there?" Will asked, crossing his arms and looking interestedly at Dean.

"We'll let you know as soon as we do." He smiled and turned away for the car. He made two steps and I turned to follow, but Sam stayed where he was.

"What about your father?" I heard Sam asked, Dean and I stopped and turned back to them, "Can we talk to him?" He asked again, Will looked at his Dad but his Dad had turned back to the lake and was staring sadly out at it. Will sighed and stepped closer to us, looking back at his Dad before speaking.

"Look," He started, his voice a low whisper, "If you don't mind, I mean... he didn't see anything and he's been through a lot." He explained, his eyes a little dull.

"We understand." Sam nodded in agreement and turned to join Dean and I as we walked back up to the car.

We headed straight to the police station from the Carlton residence, a man named Sheriff Jake Devins sat us in his office to talk in private about Sophie's death. "Now, I'm sorry, but why does the Wildlife Service care about an accidental drowning?" Jake asked, looking at the three of us suspiciously. He looked to be in about his mid-forties, and had hard grey eyes that bored into you.

"You sure it's accidental? Will Carlton saw something grab his sister." Sam challenged, leaning forward in his chair.

"Like what?" The Sheriff raised his eyebrow dubiously. "There are no indigenous carnivores in that lake." He smirked, looking at the three of us in turn, "There's nothing even big enough to pull down a person, unless it was the Loch Ness Monster." He snorted.

"Yeah." Dean said, giving Jake a weird look. The Sheriff laughed and I resisted the urge to roll my eyes and sigh.

"Right." I muttered, sharing a glance with Sam.

"Will Carlton was traumatised, and sometimes the mind plays tricks. Still-," Jake paused and took off his hat and set it down on the desk before him, "We dragged that entire lake, we even ran a sonar sweep just to be sure. There is nothing down there." Jake explained, Dean nodded and leant on the desk, his expression thoughtful.

"That's weird though, I mean: that's – that's the third missing body this year." He pointed out, his tone light.

"I know, these are people from my town. These are people I care about." Jake replied in a firm, hard tone.

"We know." I responded, Jake nodded slowly and leant back in his chair and sighed.

"All this... it won't be a problem much longer." Jake said, rubbing the back of his head.

"What do you mean?" Sam asked.

"Well, the dam of course." Jake explained, saying it as if we should know what that meant, nevertheless Dean nodded along.

"Of course, the dam. It's, uh, it's sprung a leak." Dean smiled and made his tone sound knowing of the topic, I fought to keep a straight face as Jake looked at him closely and frowned.

"It's falling apart! And the Feds won't give us the grant to repair it, so they've opened the spillway. In another six months, there won't be much of a lake. Won't be much of a town either, but as Federal Wildlife, you already knew that." Jake scoffed and the three of us nodded on cue.

"Exactly." Dean agreed, Jake frowned at us and opened his mouth, but was interrupted by a tapping on the door, we all turned our heads to see a young woman standing there with an apologetic expression on her face.

"Sorry, am I interrupting?" She asked, we stood up and shook our heads but she bit her lip nervously and looked at Jake, "I can come back later." She offered.

"Nonsense, this is my daughter." He introduced the woman to us and we nodded, Dean stepped forward with his charming smile and shook her hand.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, I'm Dean." He smiled wider in greeting and she nodded.

"Andrea Barr. Hi." She replied.

"Hi." Dean repeated, raising his eyebrows. Behind him, Sam and I exchanged pained looks of embarrassment.

"They're from the Wildlife Service. About the lake." Jake explained to Andrea and she nodded once.

"Oh." She murmured, a boy walks in and looks up at the three of us in shock, Dean smiles down at him cheerily.

"Oh, hey there. What's your name?" Dean asked, the boy looked at the three of us in stunned silence and then turned and walked back out the office, Andrea followed close behind.

"His name is Lucas." Andy explained as he put his hat on and exited the office, the three of us in tow. We entered the main room of the station to find Andrea and Lucas at one of the chairs, Andrea was giving him a box of crayons.

"Is he ok?" Sam asked, looking at the boy with concern on his face.

"My grandson's been through a lot. We all have." Jake explained sadly, a woman exited the office and motioned for him to come over and he nodded and turned to us, "Well, if there's anything else I can do for you, please let me know."

"Thanks. You know, now that you've mentioned it, could you point us in the direction of a reasonably priced motel?" Dean asked.

"Lakefront Motel. Go around the corner, it's about two blocks south." Andrea answered, stepping into earshot.

"Would you mind showing us?" Dean asked the young woman innocently, Andrea laughed and looked at him doubtfully.

"You want me to walk you two blocks?" She asked and Dean nodded.

"Not if it's any trouble." He replied, Sam shook his head and laughed behind him, but Dean pretended not to notice.

"I'm headed that way anyway." Andrea shrugged and turned to Jake, who was still stood with us, "I'll be back to pick Lucas up at threee." She told him and then looked at her son, who was quietly staring at his Mum. "We'll go to the park, ok, sweetie?" She smiled and walked over and kissed him on the head and we left the station, Dean walking next to Andrea with Sam and I behind them.

"So, cute kid." Dean smiled at the woman as we walked, Andrea looked at him and nodded.

"Thanks." She smiled and motioned for us to cross the street.

"Kids are the best, huh?" Dean continued, Andrea glanced at him and didn't reply, we stopped in front of the motel.

"Here it is. Like I said,two blocks." She nodded to the building.

"Thanks." Sam looked at her gratefully and she nodded, then turned to Dean and patted his shoulder lightly.

"Must be hard, with your sense of direction. Never being able to find your way to a decent pickup line." She said sadly and then walked away, leaving Dean with a stunned look. "Enjoy your stay!" She called to us over her shoulder before leaving. Sam and I waited two seconds...

"Wow, you got shut down so hard, that was... hilarious." I smirked at him, he narrowed his eyes at me and Sam grinned.

"'Kids are the best'? You don't even like kids." Sam frowned at his older brother, Dean shook his head.

"I love kids!" He protested, Sam and I crossed our arms at him.

"Name three children that you even know." I raised an eyebrow at him, Dean frowned as he tried to answer, I scoffed and walked into the motel, Sam close behind.

"I'm thinking!" He called over to us in protest, but we ignored him.

We were sat in the motel room waiting as Sam worked on his laptop, Dean sorted through his clothing and I was playing with a ball of flame in my palm. "Stephanie, please be careful with that. The last thing we need is a fire and people asking questions." Sam warned me for the billionth time, I rolled my eyes and nodded.

"Relax, Sammy. You worry too much." I tutted and concentrated, the flame grew hotter and bigger in my palm, and I used my other hand to cup it. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Sam watching in fascination at the flame but then he rolled his eyes and scoffed, turning his attention back to his computer screen.

"So there's been three drowning victims this year." Sam changed the subject, Dean nodded from his bed and looked over at him.

"Any before that?" He asked, Sam nodded as his gaze was transfixed on the bright screen.

"Uh, yeah." He answered, I snuffed the flame out and walked over to him and stood behind him, Sam had found a webpage up of a newspaper from a month ago:

**THE LAKE MANITOC TRIBUNE: DROWNING TAINTS ICE FISHING FESTIVAL**

Sam clicked on a subheading and the page changed:

**TRIBUNE: 12 YEAR OLD GIRL DROWNS IN LAKE – SECOND DROWNING IN 6 MONTHS AT LAKE MANITOC **

"Six more spread out over the past thirty-five years, those bodies were never recovered either. If there is something out there, it's picking up it's pace." Sam explained, craning his neck to look at me. I nodded at him as Dean threw another item of clothing onto his bed.

"So, what, we got a lake monster on a binge?" He asked a little doubtfully.

"This whole lake monster theory, it – it just bugs me." Sam shrugged, Dean frowned and joined me behind Sam, reading over his shoulder.

"Why?" I asked him, frowning at the younger Winchester.

"Loch Ness, uh, Lake Champlain, there are literally hundred of eyewitness accounts. But here, almost nothing." Sam looked back at the newspaper article and sighed, "Whatever is out there, no one's living to talk about it." He muttered, scrolling to the bottom of the page to reveal the comments section of the article. Dean suddenly reached out and pointed at the screen.

"Wait, Christopher Barr. Where have I heard that name before?" He asked, he was right: it _did _sound very familiar.

"Uh, Christopher Barr, the victim in May." Sam read aloud, then clicked on the name, opening a new page:

**LOCAL MAN IN TRAGIC ACCIDENT**

The headline read, and below showed a picture of a police officer with a small boy, I peered closer and recognised Lucas. "Christopher Barr was Andrea's husband, Lucas's father. Apparently he took Lucas out swimming, Lucas was on a floating wooden platform when Chris drowned two hours before the kid got rescued." I read aloud, Sam clicked the picture for a better look and rubbed his left eye.

"Maybe we have an eyewitness after all." Sam nodded and sighed.

"No wonder that poor kid was so freaked out. Watching one of your parents die isn't something you just get over." I murmured, staring at the smiling boy in the picture, holding his Dad's hand.

At three o'clock we arrived at the park, kids were laughing and playing around. We spotted Andrea sat on a bench watching her son, he's playing at another bench colouring and playing with toy soldiers. "Can we join you?" Sam asked as we neared Andrea, she looked up and spotted the three of us.

"I'm here with my son." She replied, nodding her head at Lucas.

"Mind if I say hi?" Dean asked, looking over at him, without an answer he walked over to where Lucas was sat.

"Tell your friend this whole _Jerry Maguire_ thing isn't gonna work on me." She looked at the two of us once Dean was out of earshot.

"I don't think that's what this is about." I smiled kindly at her.

"Hmmph." She crossed her arms and frowned at me. I looked at Sam and gave him a look and stepped forward to hit her, but Sam grabbed my arm and held me back.

"So, did you know Sophie Carlton personally?" Sam broke the silence, Andrea looked up at him and shrugged.

"I used to teach her piano but then she turned into a real health nut, always working out and stuff at the gym. It's really sad how she died." Andrea replied, I nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, it's so weird, I heard she was a really strong swimmer too." I responded. We waited for Dean to come back and he returned two minutes later.

"Lucas hasn't said a word, not even to me. Not since his Dad's accident." Andrea told the older brother as he approached, he nodded.

"Yeah, we heard, sorry." Dean answered, his tone solemn.

"What are the doctor's saying?" Sam asked the young woman, she sniffed and looked at him with tears in her eyes.

"That it's a kind of post-traumatic stress." She muttered.

"That can't be easy, for either of you." He bserved, looking at Lucas and then at Andrea.

"We moved in with my Dad, he helps out a lot. It's just... when I think about what Lucas went through, what he saw..." She trailed off and there was a pause.

"Kids are strong," Dean said, "You'd be surprised what they can deal with."

"You know, he used to have such life. He was hard to keep up with to tell you the truth." Andrea laughed as tears fell from her eyes, she paused and wiped them away, "Now he just sits there, drawing those pictures, playing with those army men. I just wish-." She broke off when Lucas approached, he was carrying a drawing and Andrea smiled at him. "Hey sweetie." She greeted. Lucas looked up at Dean and handed him the drawing, Dean smiled when he looked at it.

"Hey, thanks, Lucas." Dean thanked him, I looked over and recognised it as a picture of the Carlton household, Lucas took one last look at the three of us and then walked back over to the bench.

Sam was out buying food for the three of us, Dean and I were sat on separate beds in silence. I had lost my phone in the mine when we were fighting the wendigo – not that it mattered, I couldn't reach Skulduggery or anyone else even if I wanted to. I shrugged off my coat and stretched my arms, then threw it down on the bed. "So, Stephanie, where are your parents in all this? Do they know what you do for a living?" Dean broke the silence, I finished stretching and looked over to him.

"No, my parents just think I'm a normal, ordinary teenaged girl." I answered, looking back at him.

"What about you? I know your Dad trained you to, uh, hunt the supernatural. But where's your Mum?" I asked, Dean shrugged simply.

"When I was four years old, Sammy was just a baby... She heard a noise from Sammy's room and went in there, a demon was in there and it killed her. The same thing killed Sam's girlfriend that night at the college." Dean explained, I nodded once.

"That must've been hard, growing up without her." I told him sympathetically.

"You, uh, you could say that, yeah." He smiled sadly.

"And you've been looking for the demon ever since, right?" I asked.

"Our Dad has, yeah." He answered, there was silence and I listened to the traffic coming in through the open window sounding from the street below. "So, who trained you to, uh, do all this stuff?" Dean broke the silence, I looked at him for a moment and sighed.

"It's a, uh, it's a long story, Dean." I smiled but he shrugged.

"We have time. Just tell me." He replied.

"Ummm, ok, well... Magic can be in anyone, and I found out I had it whilst I was working on my first case with my partner, and he's been teaching me ever since. In both magic and combat." I explained, Dean was frowning in confusion at me.

"Ok... So, why did you first introduce yourself as Valkyrie when we met you?" He asked, I smiled a small smile.

"Well, magic people, they, uh, there's this idea that each person has three names: their given name, taken name and true name." I explained.

"So?" He shrugged.

"Well my given name is Stephanie Edgely, but people can have influence over me if they learnt that name, so I took a name to protect myself: Valkyrie Cain." I explained, he nodded slowly.

"So, what about your true name? What's that?"

"Your true name is where your magic stems from, if a sorcerer knew their true name, they could harness unimaginable power. But if someone knew your true name then they could control you without question." I explained, "Most people go through life without ever finding out what their true name is."

"And what about you, do you know what your true name is?" He leaned closer and I nodded once.

"I do, and I got my name sealed so I couldn't be controlled when I was sixteen." I replied, Dean blinked in surprise and I shrugged.

"How'd you get it sealed?"

"I went through a very, very dangerous procedure." I answered and got up from the bed and went over to the window and looked out of it.

"What kind of procedure?" Dean asked from the bed, I took a deep breath and looked back at him.

"I had to die, then I underwent a surgery in which a monster carved out my heart and burnt symbols onto it and then put it back." I whispered, Dean went pale and leant against the wall and stared at my discarded coat on the bed in silence. Sam came through the doors holding a single bag full of food.

"So, I think it's safe to say we can rule out Nessie." He said as he walked in, Dean cleared his throat and looked at him.

"What do, uh, what do you mean?" Dean asks, Sam sat down on Dean's bed and looked at him.

"I just drove past the Carlton house, there was an ambulance there. Will Carlton is dead." Sam told us and I blinked in shock and walked nearer to them.

"How?" I asked.

"Apparently he drowned in the sink." He said.

"He drowned?" Dean echoed.

"Yep. In the sink." Sam answered, Dean and I exchanged a confused look.

"What the hell? So you're right, this isn't a creature: we're dealing with something else." Dean sighed and leaned back on the bed.

"Yeah, but what?" Sam asked.

"I don't know, water wraith maybe? Some kind of demon? I mean, something that controls water... water that comes from the same source." Dean shrugged as he rubbed his eyes.

"The lake." I realised.

"Yep." Sam nodded, "Which would explain why it's upping the body count. The lake is draining, you heard Jake – it'll be dry in a few months. Whatever this thing is, whatever it wants: it's running out of time."

"And if it can get through the pipes, it can get to anyone almost anywhere." I pointed out, Dean stood up and sighed.

"This is gonna happen again soon." He said as he moved to the desk and sat at a chair.

"And we do know one thing for sure, we know this has got something to do with Bill Carlton." Sam stated and we nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, it killed Sophie and Will." I responded.

"And I was asking around earlier. Lucas's dad, Chris – Bill Carlton's godson." Sam told us and I nodded, connecting up the dots: this all led back to -

"Let's go pay Bill Carlton a visit." Dean said.

We found Bill sitting at the bench on the dock looking out at the lake, "Mr Carlton?" Sam called to him as we approached, Bill turned and squinted up at us as we neared. "We'd like to ask you a few questions, if you don't mind." He asked, and Dean nodded.

"We're from the Department-." Dean started to say, but was cut off by the man.

"I don't care who you're with. I've answered enough questions today." Bill muttered, nevertheless Sam walked over and stood in front of the ageing man.

"Your son said he saw something in that lake. What about you? You ever seen anything out there? Mr Carlton, Sophie's drowning and Will's death – we think there might be a connection to you or your family." Sam explained and crouched down in front of Bill.

"My children are gone. It's – it's worse than dying. Go away. Please." Bill cried, I walked over and tugged at Sam's arm so we could leave the man in peace.

We headed back to Dean's car without another glance back at the man. "What do you think, guys?" I asked the brothers.

"I think the poor guy's been through hell. But I also think that he's not telling us something." Dean answered, we reached the car and Sam leant on it and sighed.

"So what now?" I asked, stretching in the sunlight. Dean didn't reply and looked at the Carlton house intently.

"What is it, Dean?" Sam asked.

"Huh?" He snapped back to us and then started fumbling in his pockets searching for something. "Maybe Bill's not the only one who know something." Dean said as he pulled out a folded piece of paper, he unfolded it and I peeked over his shoulder and saw it was the crayon drawing of the Carlton House that Lucas had drawn for Dean.

"I'm sorry, but I don't think it's a good idea." Andrea hedged, we were standing outside her house asking for Lucas, but Andrea was refusing.

"I just need to talk to him." Dean tried, but she shook her head, I sighed and stepped forward and her gaze switched to me.

"Look, we just want to talk to him – just for a few minutes, it won't take long I promise." I told her, but she shook her head again.

"He won't say anything. What good is it gonna do?" She argued, I sighed and stepped away before I hit her.

"Andrea, we think more people might get hurt. We think something's happening out there." Sam tried, but she looked at us as if we were crazy: to her we probably were.

"My husband, the others – they just drowned. That's all." She disagreed, I opened my mouth to protest, but Dean tugged at my elbow and shook his head.

"If that's what you really want, we'll go. But if you think there's even a _possibility _that something else could be going on here, please let me talk to your son." He pleaded, she stared at him for the longest time before nodding once.

Andrea led us upstairs to Lucas's bedroom and found him playing with the toy soldiers and colouring with his crayons. Dean entered the room whilst Andrea, Sam and I lingered in the doorway. "Hey Lucas, you remember me?" He said as he crouched down next to the boy, Lucas didn't answer or look up, he kept drawing his drawing. "You know, I, uh, I wanted to thank you for that last drawing. But the thing is, I need your help again." Dean continued, when Lucas didn't reply he pulled out his old drawing and unfolded it, then placed it in front of the boy. "How did you know to draw this? Did you know something bad was gonna happen? Maybe you could nod yes or no for me?" Dean questioned, but Lucas kept colouring, Dean sighed and switched his positions and sat cross-legged in front of him. "You're scared. It's okay. I understand. See, when I was your age, I saw something real bad happen to my Mum, and I was scared, too. I didn't feel like talking, just like you. But see, my Mum—I know she wanted me to be brave. I think about that every day. And I do my best to be brave. And maybe, your dad wants you to be brave too." Dean told him, Lucas drops the crayon he was using and looked up at Dean. He turned back to his desk and gave Dean the drawing he'd just finished. Dean looked at it and then smiled down at Lucas. "Thanks Lucas." He grinned and then stood up and nodded to us, I lead the way down the stairs and walked down the path to where Dean had parked his car, not bothering to thank Andrea for letting us in.

Sam was looking at the picture Lucas had drawn for Dean: it was a picture of a white church with a yellow house beside it, in front of the yellow house was a wooden house with a boy standing there in a blue baseball cap with a red bicycle. "Andrea said that the kid never drew like that until his Dad died." Dean told us, glancing at Sam from the driver's seat.

"There are cases – going through a traumatic experience could make people more sensitive to premonitions, psychic tendencies." Sam nodded.

"So what are you saying? Whatever's out there Lucas is tapping into it somehow?" I asked.

"Steph's right: I mean, it's only a matter of time before somebody else drowns, so if you got a better lead, please." Dean spoke up.

"Alright, we got another house to find." Sam said, pointing to the yellow house in the drawing, Dean scoffed and rolled his eyes.

"The only problem is there's a thousand yellow two – stories in this county alone." Dean sighed, but I leaned forward and pointed at the picture.

"See this church? There's probably less than a thousand of those around here." I told them, Dean scoffed and shook his head.

"Oh, detective girl thinks she's so smart." Dean taunted and I glared at him.

"Shut up." I told him.

"Anyway, what you said earlier... about Mum... you never told me that before." Sam said, Dean kept his eyes fixed on the road and turned up the music player.

"It's no big deal." Dean shrugged, there was a silence and Sam stared at his brother with big, soulful eyes, "Oh God, we're not gonna have to hug or anything, are we?" He moaned and I cracked a smile.

"We're sorry to bother you, ma'am, but does a little boy live here, by any chance? He might wear a blue ball cap, has a red bicycle." Dean asked an old lady who lived in the yellow house next to the church just like in Lucas's picture.

"No sir, not for a very long time. Peter's been gone for thirty-five years now." The old lady shook her head. She motioned for us to come in and we followed her as she led us into the living room. She picked up a photograph of a smiling young boy holding a shiny red bicycle. "The police never – _I _never had any idea what happened. He just disappeared." The old lady sighed, shaking her head down at the photograph. Sam nudged Dean and I and pointed to several toy soldiers set up neatly in a glass cabinet. "Losing him – you know, it's... it's worse than dying." She said sadly, I glanced at Dean and he made a face.

"Did he disappear from here? I mean, from this house?" Dean asked.

"He was supposed to ride his bike straight home after school, and he never showed up." She answered, her voice breaking on the word 'up'. I saw a picture before the mirror and picked it up and turned it over, on the back it read:

_Peter Sweeney and Billy Carlton – 1970_

"Well, thank you for your time, ma'am." I turned back to Sam and Dean and the old lady, she was nodding, still staring sadly at the photograph in her shaking hands.

"Okay," Sam said as we drove away from the old woman's house and back into town, "This little boy Peter Sweeney vanishes, and this is all connected to Bill Carlton somehow."

"He's definitely connected, there was a picture of him and Peter when they were kids on the mantle." I told them and the two brothers nodded.

"Yeah, Bill sure as hell seems to be hiding something, huh?" Dean agreed.

"And Bill, the people he loves – they're all getting punished." Sam continued and I leant forward in the backseat.

"So what if Bill did something to Peter?" I asked and Sam nodded, a disturbing smile on his face.

"What if Bill killed him?" Sam joined in with my question asking.

"Peter's spirit would be furious, it'd want revenge. It's possible." Dean shrugged and the car moved along faster.

"Mr Carlton?" Sam called as we approached the house, behind the house we heard an engine roar and we took off sprinting in the direction of it, we ran down and came to the shoreline of the lake to see Bill out on the lake in a boat.

"Check it out." Dean said and we ran to the end of the dock overlooking the lake.

"Mr Carlton!" I called, he turned round but his boat didn't slow down, he had a steely expression on his old, lined face.

"Mr Carlton! You need to come back! Come out of the water! Turn the boat around!" Dean cupped his hands around his mouth and yelled to the man, I watched in fear as the boat kept going.

"Mr Carlton!" Sam tried again, but we were ignored, the water started churning around the boat, I ran a hand through my dark hair as the water lapped roughly on the underside of the boat. I cried out as the water rose up and flipped the boat over, when the water cleared the boat and Bill vanished beneath the dark, murky surface. The water returned to it's natural yet so unnatural calm state, not a ripple on the surface.

We strode through the doors of the police station, Andrea was sat on a chair on the side and leapt up and walked over, "Sam, Stephanie, Dean." She said and walked up with a confused look on her face. "I didn't expect to see you here." She said.

"So now you're on a first name basis." Te Sheriff walked over to us with an irritated look on his face, then he turned to his daughter, "What are you doing here?" He asked, his expression softer.

"I bought you dinner." She answered and pointed to the plastic bag and container that had been stacked neatly on a chair.

"I'm sorry, sweetheart, I don't really have time." He pulled a face, his tone apologetic.

"I heard about Bill Carlton, is it true? I something going on with the lake?" She asked, changing the subject.

"Right now we don't know what the truth is. But I think it might be better if you and Lucas went on home." He told his worried daughter, as if he had received an unknown signal, Lucas looked up and made a scared whining noise and grabbed Dean's arm, his eyes were wide and scared.

"Lucas, hey, what is it?" Dean asked the boy with a concerned look on his face, "Lucas?" His tone became more serious as the boy's wide unblinking eyes stared up at Dean.

"Lucas." Andrea looked at her son with a worried expression, Dean crouched down and look into the boy's face.

"Lucas, it's ok, it's ok. Hey, Lucas, it's ok, it's ok." Dean told the boy in soothing tones, but he didn't look any calmer. Andrea pulled Lucas away from Dean and led him outside, Lucas kept his wide staring eyes on Dean the whole time. When the doors to the station closed the three of us turned our attention back to Jake, he threw his jacket down and beckoned us into his office.

"Okay, just so I'm clear," The Sheriff sighed heavily as he sat in his chair, "You see... something attack Bill's boat, sending Bill – who is a very good swimmer by the way, into the lake. And you never see him again?" Jake asked, Sam and I shared a glance and then nodded at Dean.

"Yeah, that about sums it up." Dean confirmed.

"Ad I'm supposed to believe this, even though I've already sonar-swept that entire lake? And what you're describing is impossible? And you're not Wildlife Service?" Jake demands, I gave the brother's a surprised look and Jake grins and leans forward in his seat, "That's right, I checked. Department's never heard of you three."

"See, now we can explain that." I tried.

"Enough," Jake held up his hand, "Please, the only reason you're breathing free air is one of Bill's neighbours saw him steering out that boat just before you did. So, we have a couple of options here – I can arrest the three of you for impersonating government officials and hold you as material witnesses to Bill Carlton's disappearance. Or, we can chalk this all up to a bad day, you get into your car, you put this town in your rearview mirror and you don't ever darken my doorstep again." He yelled, making us shift in our seats.

"Door number two sounds good." Dean grinned and Jake nodded, his eyes full of rage.

"That's the one I'd pick." He nodded.

We were sat in Dean's car waiting at a traffic light, out the window there was a sign that read:

**1-43 NORTH TO MILWAUKEE → **

The traffic light turned green but Dean didn't move. "Green." Sam said, Dean turned to look at him.

"What?" He asked, confused.

"He's talking about the traffic light, it's green." I pointed to the light. Dean nodded and the car moved forward and went left.

"Uh, the interstate's the other way." Sam murmured and Dean grinned.

"I know."

"But Dean, this job. I think it's over." Sam told him but Dean shook his head.

"I'm not so sure." He argued.

"If Bill murdered Peter Sweeney and Peter's spirit got it's revenge: case closed. Shouldn't the spirit be at, like, rest, or something?" I asked and Dean nodded.

"Alright, so what if we take off and this thing isn't done? You know, what if we've missed something? What if more people get hurt?" He asked, looking at me in the rearview mirror.

"But why would you think that?" Sam asked.

"Because Lucas was really scared." Dean answered with a shrug and I scoffed from the back seat.

"That's what this is about?" I asked, surprised at Dean's behaviour.

"I just don't want to leave this town until I know the kid's ok." Dean replied with a shrug and Sam looked at Dean in shock.

"Who are you? And what have you done with my brother?" Sam asked, Dean glanced at Sam and half smiled.

"Shut up." We drove in silence after that, and Dean sighed happily as he pulled up in front of Andrea's home.

"Are we sure about this? It's pretty late." I said, looking up at the twinkling night sky. Dean didn't reply and walked quickly up to the house and rang the doorbell, Sam looked at me and I shrugged and sighed as we followed him up to the porch. Lucas flings open the door and he's breathing loudly with a petrified look on his face.

"Lucas? Lucas!" Dean asked, suddenly worried, the boy runs off and we follow close behind and upstairs. The landing carpet is saturated with water and it poured out from under the bathroom door, Lucas ran on the soaking carpet and started pounding on the door, I walked over and pushed Lucas gently to Dean and splayed my hands, feeling the air shift and connect beneath my palm, a sudden force of air slams into the door, blowing it from its hinges. I ran into the bathroom and reached the tub, dark water swirled around in it: lake water.

"Help me!" I cried out as Sam appeared in the door way, I reached my hand into the bath and felt a wrist. Sam stood beside me and grabbed what I assumed was Andrea's other arm, we pulled her up and she gasped as she broke free from the surface, but then something shifted in the air and I narrowed my eyes. I cried out in fright as Andrea is yanked back down and out of my grip, I reached in the tub again and used both hands to grab her arm, Together Sam and I slowly lifted Andrea from the bath and she fell on us, Sam jumped back in surprise and I groaned as Andrea's full weight landed on me coughing up water.

Sam and I were sat with Andrea in the living room, the woman was holding a cup of tea I had made her in her shaking hands and was wearing some comfortable clothes. "Can you tell us?" Sam asked her gently and she shook her head and looked at us with wide eyes.

"No." She told him. "It doesn't make any sense," Andrea sobbed, tears falling from her red-rimmed eyes, "I'm going crazy." She managed, I took the tea away from her to save it falling from her hands.

"No you're not, tell us what what happened, everything." I told her gently.

"I heard... I thought I heard... there was this voice." She told us, putting her face in her hands and sobbing harder, I rubbed her back soothingly and handed her a tissue, she took it and nodded at me gratefully. "T-thank you, Stephanie." She stuttered and I smiled warmly at her.

"It's no problem, Andrea. Now, this voice. What did it say?" I asked her gently.

"It said... it said 'come play with me'." She answered as more tears streamed down her bloodshot eyes, she sniffed and I fought the urge to shudder. "What's happening?" She cried out and envelopes me in a hug, I shoot Sam an uncomfortable look and he shrugs.

"She's just upset, she's not gonna hurt you." He mouthed to me, I pulled a face and awkwardly put my arms around the weeping woman.

"Do you recognise the kids in these pictures?" Dean asked as he came over, holding a scrapbook. Andrea released her death grip on me and sniffed as she looked at the book Dean had set down on the coffee table. It was open to a picture of a group of boys in scout uniforms, I glanced at what the caption read below:

**EXPLORER TROOP 37**

"Um, um, no. I mean, except that's my Dad right there, he must have been about twelve in these pictures." Andrea explained, running her a finger over a boy, presumably her Dad. I recognised the boy next to her though: Peter Sweeney. I looked up at Dean and then back at the picture.

"That's Peter!" I exclaimed pointing to the boy next to Jake.

"Chris Barr's drowning. The connection wasn't to Bill Carlton. It must have been to the Sheriff." Dean stated, looking at Sam and I.

"Bill _and _the Sheriff. They were both involved with Peter." Sam nodded in understanding.

"What about Chris? My Dad – what are you talking about?" Andrea looked at the three of us with a confused expression, but Dean's attention was on something else.

"Lucas?" He asked, I looked over and saw that the boy's gaze was transfixed on something outside the window, in silence he get up and walked out the door. "Lucas, what is it?" Dean asked as he opened the door and followed the boy down the garden path and into the woods, everyone close behind.

"Lucas, honey?" Andrea called out, hysteria seeping into her tone. Lucas stopped abruptly and Andrea sighed in relief, but the boy didn't stop because of her: he was staring at something on the ground, then he looked up at Dean.

"You and Lucas get back to the house and stay there, ok?" Dean told Andrea, she nodded with shocked eyes and took Lucas's hand and led him back in the direction of the house. We walked to the shed at the end of Andrea's garden and I used the air to blast open the doors of the old shack, I found three shovels and threw two to the brother's and we walked back into the woods. Sam started to dig but his shovel clanked against something and he looked up at Dean and I and we threw the shovels down and started to dig with out hands, three minutes later we had pulled away enough dirt to reveal an old, red bicycle.

"Peter's bike." Sam breathed out and I nodded, the all too familiar sound of a gun clicking sounded behind us, followed by an all too familiar voice.

"Who are you?" Jake asked, he was stood there with a gun pointed at Sam.

"Put the gun down, Jake." I told the Sheriff in a firm voice, but Jake shook his head.

"How did you know that was there?" He demanded, pointing the gun harder at the youngest Winchester.

"What happened? You and Bill killed Peter, drowned him in the lake and then buried the bike? You can't bury the truth, Jake. Nothing stays buried." I told him in an even voice, his gun moved off Sam and onto my, but I kept calm. Worse situations had occurred.

"I don't know what the hell you're talking about." He denied in an angry voice.

"Hey, hey, listen: you and Bill killed Peter Sweeney thirty-five years ago. That's what the hell I'm talking about." Dean said, trying to move some of Jake's anger from me to him. Fortunately for us, Andrea ran up with a horrified look on her face.

"Dad!" She exclaimed, terrified.

"And now you got one seriously pissed off spirit." Dean continued.

"It's gonna take Andrea, Lucas, everyone you love. It's gonna drown them, and it's gonna drag their bodies down to God knows where, so you can feel the same pain Peter's Mum felt. And then, after that, it's gonna take you and it's not gonna stop until it does." Sam told the Sheriff, he scoffed and glanced at Sam.

"Yeah, and how do you know that?" The man asked, beside Sam I shrugged and my gaze remained calm and collected.

"Because that's exactly what it did to Bill Carlton." I answered.

"Listen to yourselves, all three of you. You're insane." Jake responded, but Dean had had enough.

"I don't really give a rat's ass what you think of us. But if we're gonna bring down this spirit, we need to find the remains, salt them and then burn them to dust. Now tell me you buried Peter somewhere. Tell me you didn't just let him go in the lake." Dean pleaded, despite the gun being pointed at his chest.

"Dad, is any of this true?" Andrea demanded, Jake looked at his hysterical daughter out of the corner of his eyes and he shook his head.

"No. Don't listen to them, they're liars and they're dangerous." He told his daughter.

"Something tried to drown me," She told him, "Chris died on that lake, Dad look at me." She said and Jake turned his head and stared at Andrea, "Tell me you – you didn't kill anyone." She begged, her eyes shining bright with tears in the early light of dawn. Jake looked away and her face went slack, "Oh my God." She whispered.

"Billy and I were at the lake. Peter was the smallest one, we always bullied him. But this time, it got rough. We were holding his head under the water, we didn't mean to, but we held him under too long and he drowned. We let the body go, and it sank." Jake explained in a hollow voice, Dean and I caught eachother's eye and then I turned back to Jake. "Oh, Andrea, we were kids. We were so scared, it was a mistake. But Andrea, to say that I have anything to do with these drownings, with Chris, because of some ghost? It's not rational." He tried to explain, but Andrea was looking at him as if he were a stranger.

"Alright, listen to me: all of you. We need to get you away from this lake, as far as we can. Right now." Dean ordered, his tone firm and commanding. Andrea's gaze was fixed on a point pass my shoulder and I was starting to feel a little self conscious, she suddenly gasped and I fought down the urge to whip round.

"Lucas!" Jake called, looking where Andrea was, I turned and saw what they were looking at and gasped along with them, Lucas was leaning over the side of the dock, reaching for something in the water.

"Lucas!" Dean roared, and charged towards him, everyone followed close behind.

"Lucas! Baby, stay where you are!" Andrea screamed, suddenly a pale, white hand reached up from the surface and yanked Lucas down, I force my legs to run all the more faster and reach the end of the dock and dive in, Dean and Sam close behind. The water was dark and murky, and in my ears I could hear the sound of a boy laughing, as if he were playing a game. I opened my eyes and saw Peter, he was so pale he actually glowed brightly in contrast of the gloomy depths of the lake. He glared at me in the water and started moving towards me, I looked to see if Lucas was with him but he was nowhere in sight, Peter was getting closer now – his eyes shadowed and his face chalky, I kicked up with my legs and I broke up to the surface, gasping for air.

"Stephanie? Did you find anything?" I heard Dean ask, I shook his head and looked up at Andrea sadly.

"I'm sorry." I said and Andrea lets out a loud, broken cry.

"Lucas where are you?" She screamed and I looked at the brothers.

"Down again, guys." I told them and dived back down, Peter was waiting for me and grabbed onto my wrist and I cried out and tried to pull away, but the boy had a vice like grip on my wrist. He narrowed his eyes and looked at me, "You're not here to play!" He shouted, the water distorting his voice, I shook my head and he screamed, I closed my eyes in pain as the spirits screams rattled around my head, my heartbeat was in my ears and my lungs were on fire, telling me to get more air. I kicked out with my leg and it came into contact with Peter's stomach, but he barely noticed, he was looking at something else – something that was happening above the surface. Peter gave me one last look and smiled evilly at me, ad I knew why – my heartbeat was slowing down in my ears, and my head felt so heavy: no wonder I hadn't drifted back up to the surface yet. Peter had disappeared and I was glad to be rid of him, glad that the last thing I saw wasn't going to be that creepy bastard's face. My eyes were drifting shut now, it was going to be over soon, I felt the air shift under my palms but I was too tired to open my eyes and investigate what it was, I closed my eyes and ignored the numb feeling of something wrapping around me waist, I was feeling light headed and wondering why I hadn't fallen asleep yet.

"Stephanie! Stephanie, can you hear me?" A voice was interrupting my attempt at sleeping, something was hitting my face now, "Steph? Steph! Come on, I know you can hear me in there!" The voice sounded again, I sighed inwardly as I felt the welcoming feeling of sleep vanish and I opened my eyes and breathed in a great lungful of air, but something was already in my lungs. I coughed and pushed the water from my lungs, gasping gratefully as air filled my lungs and dispelled the heavy weight in my head. I looked around and saw Sam looking down at me, a look of relief on his face, "Oh thank God." He sighed and pulled me into a hug, I coughed again at the pain of my chest being crushed in Sam's bear hug.

"Sam? Can't breathe." I rasped in his ear and he suddenly let go and I rested back down on the floor again and sighed. "Did we do it?" I asked him.

"Yeah, yeah we did it."

We checked out the motel and were heading to Dean's car, Dean opened the car door and Sam tossed his duffel bag in. "Look, we're not gonna save everybody." Sam looked at his brother sadly and Dean nodded once.

"I know." He replied curtly.

"Guys!" A voice called from behind us, we turned to see Andrea walking over to us with Lucas in tow.

"Hey." Dean smiled in greeting.

"We're glad we caught you. We just, um, we made you lunch for the road." Andrea explained and looked down at Lucas, he was carrying a tray piled with sandwiches. "Lucas insisted on making the sandwiches himself." She smiled down at her son and he grinned up at his Mum.

"Can I give it to them now?" Lucas asked and I beamed down at him when I heard his voice.

"Of course." Andrea allowed and kissed Lucas's forehead.

"Come on, Lucas, let's load this into the car." Dean offered and they moved over to the car.

"How are you holding up?" I asked Andrea, she laughed, much to my surprise.

"How are you? Last time I saw you, Sam was carrying you to the car." She smiled and touched my arm, I shrugged and nodded.

"I'm sure I'll live. But seriously, how have you been keeping?" I asked again.

"It's just gonna take a long time to sort through everything, you know?" Andrea's smile drops and she sighed heavily.

"Andrea, we're both really sorry." Sam cut in, but she shook her head.

"You three saved my son, one of you damn near died doing it. I can't ask for more than that, Dad loved me. He loved Lucas, no matter what he did, I just have to hold onto that." Andrea dry sobbed a little and I pulled her in for a hug, over her shoulder Sam was looking at me in surprise and I shrugged.

"Goodbye, Andrea." I told her and then moved over to the car and stepped into earshot of what Dean was saying to Lucas.

"You take care of your Mum, ok?" I heard Dean ask the boy.

"All right." Lucas said and then I looked over to see Dean kissing Andrea and I couldn't help but giggle a little, Lucas giggled with me and I walked over and hugged him.

"I know about you, Valkyrie." Lucas's voice sounded in my ear and I pulled away in shock.

"What did you just call me?" I asked the boy.

"Valkyrie. I've dreamed about you, you're not with the skeleton man anymore, this isn't your world is it?" Lucas asked me, I stared at the boy in shock before nodding once with tears in my eyes.

"No it's not, but I was supposed to go back home ages ago, but it hasn't happened. I think something's wrong and I can't get back." I admitted to the boy, Lucas nodded.

"I haven't dreamed of you leaving Dean and Sam, Valkyrie." The boy replied, I nodded slowly.

"Stephanie, move your ass. We're gonna run out of daylight before we hit the road." I heard dean's voice from behind me, I gave Lucas one last hug.

"Take care, Lucas." I told him before I got into the car and shut the door, Dean grinned when everyone was ready and started the engine and we drove off. We all smile as we see Andrea and Lucas waving goodbye to us, and we all wave in return, then Dean switches up the radio and we all sing along to _Movin' on _by _Bad Company_.

**Author's Note: Thank you all so much for the reviews! I didn't expect to get so many to be honest! I'm planning on posting Chapter 3 when I have at least 10 reviews! So comment if you want to see the next chapter!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Note: Thank you all again for your reviews – They really do help, I've noticed review asking whether I will bring Valkyrie's darker true self: Darquesse into the story. Well guess what? You'll have to wait and see, I have so many plans for Valkyrie with the Winchesters. **

Winchester and Cain Chapter 04 – Phantom Traveller

_Valkyrie's P.O.V_

Dean was asleep on the bed next to me across the room, I hadn't really gotten much sleep last night, my final conversation with Lucas had scared me. The idea of never returning to my home just didn't sound right, I'd never see my parents, my baby sister and cousins, my crazy aunt and uncle or Skulduggery. I sat up quickly when tears started forming in my eyes, I got out of bed and crossed the motel room for a tissue. I breathed deeply at my reflection in a mirror hanging on the wall and scoffed to myself at the dramatics, throwing the tissue in the bin right as the door opened, instinctively I clicked my fingers and conjured a flame, on the other side of the room I saw Dean's hand slide under his pillow and pull out a knife. "Morning, sunshines." I heard Sam joke, turning on the lights to reveal him holding three coffee cups and a brown bag. I sighed in relief and let the flames in my hands die out, and I rolled my eyes at him.

"What time is it?" Dean groaned from his bed, his knife on the bedside table and his head under the sheets.

"Uh, it's about five forty-five." Sam answered, twisting his wrist so he could read his watch.

"In the morning?" Dean mumbled.

"Must be." I answered, and Dean rolled his eyes as he sat up and stretched.

"Where does the day go?" He smiled sleepily and then looked at his younger brother. "Did you get any sleep last night?" He asked.

"Yeah, I grabbed a couple of hours." Sam shrugged and I frowned.

"Liar, because I was up at three, and you were watching a George Foreman info-thingy." I commented, raising an eyebrow at Sam.

"Hey, firstly it's called an _infomercial, _ok? And secondly, what can I say? It's riveting TV." Sam retorted, narrowing his eyes at me. "And I didn't see you sleeping much, either, Steph." He added and I shrugged.

"So I couldn't sleep last night, so what? I almost died yesterday – I think I'm entitled to a sleepless night." I lied smoothly, yawning as Sam handed me one of the coffee cups.

"Ok, ok. So, Sam, Stephanie has an excuse, what's yours? In fact, when was the last time you got a good night's sleep?" Dean asked as I sat at the table.

"I don't know. A little while, I guess – it's not a big deal." Sam shrugged and opened the curtains, I frowned at him and glanced at Dean.

"Yeah it is." I argued, Dean nodded in agreement. Sam turned and saw Dean and I frowning at him in concern and he sighed and scoffed.

"Look," He chuckled, "I appreciate your concern-."

"Oh, I'm not concerned about you. It's both your jobs to keep my ass alive, so I need you both sharp. Got it?" Dean sighed as he stood up from his bed, I nod whilst Sam shrugs half-heartedly and I look at him in shock.

"Seriously, are you still having nightmares about Jess?" I asked him, Sam didn't look at me, he crossed the room over to me and set the brown paper bag on the table next to me and rubbed his eyes tiredly.

"Yeah," He admitted, exhausted, "But it's not just her. It's everything. I just forgot, you know? This job, it gets to you." He told me, I stayed quiet whilst Dean shook his head.

"You can't let it. You can't bring it home like that." He advised, I nodded in agreement and Sam scoffed.

"So, what? All this – it never keeps you up at night?" He asked the two of us, I opened my mouth to object but nothing sprung to mind, I cast my eyes to the floor and didn't answer. Meanwhile, Dean held his head high and shook it. "Never? You're never afraid?" He looked at his brother in interest, crossing his arms and raising an eyebrow.

"No, not really." Dean shrugged, Sam scoffed and walked over to Dean's bedside table and held up the large, sharp hunting knife that the older brother had pulled out when Sam had first arrived. Dean frowned and took the knife from Sam, "That's not fear. That's precaution." He smirked, Sam yawned and shook his head in defeat.

"Alright, whatever. I'm too tired to argue." Sam sighed and took a swig from his coffee cup, I watched him in concern as Dean's phone started to ring.

"Hello?" He answered as he flipped it open. Another voice, a male's, sounded on the other end as Sam and I listened on in silence. "Oh right, yeah. Up in Kittanning, Pennsylvania, the, ugh, the poltergeist thing. It's not back is it?" Dean asked, I sighed and zoned out as I made my way over to the bed I had slept in last night and started to fold the sheets. My mind was on home again as a flock of birds flew past the window, I closed my eyes and imagined the sound of my baby sister laughing at my Dad's antics as he tried to find a pair off socks that matched whilst Mum, Alice and I were sat at the breakfast table.

"Steph? Steph!" A voice interrupted my day dream and I opened my eyes in shock.

"Huh?" I asked, looking at Sam and Dean in confusion.

"We got a case, we're moving out. Grab your jacket." Sam told me and I nodded, slightly dazed and walked over to where I had dumped my jacket tiredly on the floor last night.

"Thanks for making the trip so quick, I ought to be doing you guys a favour, not the other way around. Dean and John really helped me out." The man, Jerry Panowski, led us through an airport hangar.

"Yeah, he told me. It was a poltergeist?" Sam asked, a man passed and smiled at the four of us.

"_Poltergeist?_ Man, I loved that movie." The man said as he passed by us, Jerry turned and glared at him.

"Hey! Nobody's talking to you, keep walking." He ordered, then he turned back to us, his eyes softer and friendlier, "Damn right it was a poltergeist, practically tore our house apart." Jerry continued, "Tell you something, if it wasn't for you and your Dad – I probably wouldn't be alive." He told Dean, the older Winchester smiled and shrugged, Jerry smiled back and then looked at Sam, "Your Dad said you were off at college. Is that right?" He asked the younger Winchester, Sam nodded slowly.

"Yeah, I was. I'm – taking some time off." He admitted. Jerry nodded and then looked at me, his eyes holding no recognition at me at all – which didn't surprise me in the slightest.

"And you, well, I haven't ever met or heard about you, how do you know the Winchester's?" He asked me.

"Uhhmm..." I trailed off, looking at the two brother's for help.

"Her name is Stephanie, she's just a close friend who we hunt with." Dean told them man, Jerry nodded and smiled.

"Well, it's nice to meet you, Stephanie." He greeted and I nodded, then he turned back to Sam.

"He was really proud of you, your Dad. He talked about you all the time." Jerry told him, Sam looked up in surprise.

"He did?" He asked.

"Yeah, you bet he did. Oh, hey, you know I tried to get a hold of him, but I couldn't. How's he doing, anyway?" Jerry changed the subject at an alarming rate and I blinked.

"He's, umm, wrapped up in a job right now." Dean answered.

"Well, we're missing the old man – but we get Stephanie and Sam. Even trade, huh?" Jerry asked cheerily, Dean and Sam laughed, much to my surprise and I frowned in confusion.

"No, not by a long shot." Sam answered, Jerry shrugged and made a face.

"I got something I want you guys to hear." The man moved on, we came to an office with Jerry's name on it and he motioned for us to go inside, we grouped next to Jerry's desk and waited patiently for him to show us the thing. "I listened to this. And, well, it sounded like it was up your alley." Jerry smiled as he opened a box and pulled out an unmarked CD, he puts it in a drive and taps the desk impatiently as he waits for it to load. "Normally I wouldn't have access to this. It's the cockpit voice recorder for United Britannia flight 2485. It was one of ours." He explained as a clip appeared up on the computer screen, he clicked it and the four of us leaned in and listened.

"Mayday! Mayday! Repeat! This is United Britannia 2485 – immediate instruction help! United Britannia 2485, I copy your message... May be experiencing some mechanical failure..." A voice sounded above a large amount of static, a whooshing sound appeared after the message ended and I glanced up at the two brothers and frowned in confusion.

"Took off from here, crashed about two hundred miles south. Now, they're saying mechanical failure. Cabin depressurized somehow. Nobody knows why, over a hundred people were on board and only seven got out alive. Pilot was one, his name is Chuck Lambert. He's a good friend of mine... Chuck is, uh... well, he's pretty broken up about it. Like it was his fault." Jerry explained, his smile no longer cheery.

"You don't think it was?" Sam asked and Jerry shook his head.

"No, I don't." Jerry answered.

"Right, well, we're gonna need the, uh, passenger manifests, right?" I looked at Sam and he nodded, beside him Dean was looking at me blankly, "A list of survivors." I answered and he nodded in understanding.

"Alright." Jerry smiled.

"And, uh, any way we can take a look at the wreckage?" Dean added.

"The other stuff is no problem. But the wreckage... guys, the NTSB has it locked down in an evidence warehouse. No way I've got that kind of clearance." Jerry shook his head, Dean nodded and paused for a moment, the challenge shining in his dark eyes.

"No problem." He grinned.

Sam and I were waiting by the car outside a printing shop for Dean, a good twenty minutes had passed and I was starting to get bored, Sam was starting to get annoyed at his older brother's tardiness but I didn't care, time like this gave me the opportunity to pour over Lucas's words and reminisce about my old life. "You've been in there forever." Sam's voice, yet again, ruined my daydreams. I turned to see Dean smugly holding up three IDs.

"You can't rush perfection." Dean frowned at his brother as he handed the IDs to us, I couldn't help but be impressed at Dean's detailing on fraud.

"Homeland Security?" I laughed, Dean grinned and shrugged whilst Sam frowned at us.

"That's pretty illegal, even for us." Sam said worriedly.

"Yeah, well it's something new, you know? People haven't seen it a thousand times." Dean replied and I nodded in agreement.

"That's true." I commented, still smiling as we got into the car.

"Alright, so what do you got?" Dean asked as Sam belted his seatbelt up.

"Well, there's definitely EVP on the cockpit voice recorder." Sam started.

"Yeah?"

"Listen." Sam told him as he put a tape into the stereo, he pressed play and the car became silent as we listened to the playback. There was static and then the loud whooshing sound that was the same as the one from the recording Jerry had shown us, then the static cleared and one scratchy, cold voice sounded through the speakers:

"No survivors."

"No survivors?" I repeated, "What's that supposed to mean? There were seven survivors." I told them, frowning in confusion as the tape ended.

"Got me." Sam shrugged and took the tape back out of the stereo.

"So, what are you thinking?" I asked them.

"I don't know, uh, haunted flight maybe?" Dean replied.

"There's a long history of spirits and death omens on planes and ships, like phantom travellers." Sam explained and I nodded.

"Mm-hmm." I muttered.

"Or remember flight 401?" Sam continued.

"Uh, no." I frowned.

"It's a flight that crashed, the airline salvaged some parts from the crash and put it in other planes, then the spirit of the pilot and copilot haunted those flights." Dean explained.

"Right."

"Maybe we got a similar deal." Sam suggested, and Dean nodded.

"Alright, so: no survivors. Which one do you want to talk to first?" He asked, Sam bought out a folded piece of paper and straightened it out, revealing a list of names Sam had written out.

"Third on the list," He tapped at it, "Max Jaffey." He read aloud.

"Why him?" I asked.

"Well, for one, he's from around here. And two, if anyone saw anything weird, he did." Sam answered.

"What makes you say that?" Dean asked.

"Well, I spoke to his mother." He shrugged and I frowned.

"Wait, when did you speak to his mother?" I asked – I had been with Sam the whole time Dean was in the printer shop, I didn't remember him taking any phone calls.

"Ummm earlier? When we were waiting for Dean outside... You were stood right next to me." Sam looked shot me a strange look and I stared blankly back at him.

"I was?" I asked, perplexed.

"Yeah..." He frowned and looked at me closely, "Are you... ok?"

"Yep – yes! I am fine, so, Max... Jaffey was it? Why him?" I spoke quickly, trying hard to shift the conversation topic away from me, Sam and Dean exchanged a glance but I ignored it.

"Uhh, well, for one: he's from around here. And two, if anyone saw anything weird, he did." Sam stuttered, looking at me in shock.

"Right, excellent." I said, clapping my hands together, "Where is he?"

"I don't understand. I already spoke with Homeland Security." Max protested, he was walking with Sam, Dean and I through the gardens of the hospital.

"Right. Some new information has come up. So if you could just answer a couple of questions..." Dean trailed off as Max leant heavily on his cane to sit down in the chair.

"Just before the plane went down, did you notice anything... unusual?" I asked, following what Skulduggery had taught me all those years ago.

"Like what?" He asked.

"Err strange lights, weird noises, maybe. Voices?" Dean took over once more.

"No, nothing." Max shook his head.

"Mr Joffey-."

"Jaffey." He corrected me with an annoyed look but I wasn't fazed.

"Jaffey. You checked yourself in here, right?" I asked, remembering briefly what Sam had told us on the drive over. Mr Jaffey nodded in response and I leaned forward in my chair, clasping my hands together. "Can I ask why?" I continued.

"I was a little stress. I survived a plane crash." He narrowed his eyes at me but again, I ignored it.

"Uh-huh, and that's what terrified you? That's what you were afraid of?" I asked, Max's brow furrowed in deep thought as he thought over the question.

"I – I don't want to talk about this anymore." Max shook his head quickly, I glanced down at his hands resting on the head of the cane and saw they were shaking.

"See I think maybe you did see something up there. We need to know what." Sam's voice sounded above me, his hands rested on the back of the chair I was sat on. Max seemed to consider before he something in his eyes held him back.

"No. No, I was... delusional – seeing things." He denied.

"It's ok, then just tell us what you _thought _you saw, please." Sam continued gently.

"There was... this man, and, uh, he had these eyes. These, uh... black eyes, and I saw him – or I _thought _I saw him..." Max trailed off and looked down at his shoes, I saw his knees were shaking now as well as his hands.

"What?" I asked him quietly.

"He opened the emergency exit. But that's... that's impossible, right? I mean, I looked it up, there's something like two tons of pressure on that door." Max said, his voice edging on hysteria.

"This man, uh, did he seem to appear and disappear rapidly? It would look something like a mirage?" Sam asked the shaking man, he raised his eyes up at Sam and then looked at Dean and me in disbelief.

"What are you, nuts?" He asked him, his tone incredulous. I looked up at the younger Winchester and saw his head had tilted at an angle. "He was a passenger, he was sitting right in front of me." Max finally shrugged with a shake of his head.

We pulled up in front of a typically big American house in the next town over, I gulped at how expensive the front yard looked, ornate marble fountains were set out symmetrically on the neatly mown lawn. "So here we are. George Phelps, seat 20C." Sam sighed as he tapped the paper in his hands.

"Hmm. Guys, I don't care how strong you are," Dean tapped the steering wheel thoughtfully then opened his door, Sam and I followed close behind, "Even yoked up on PCP or something, no way you can open up an emergency door during a flight." He shook his head.

"Not if you're human," I shrugged and the boys looked at me in surprise, "What? You saw that wendigo – how fast it was, what if this George guy was something else. Like a monster hiding as a human." I suggested, Sam and Dean considered this and the youngest Winchester nodded.

"It's possible." He agreed, but Dean shook his head and pointed to the overly grand house.

"Does that look like a creature's lair to you?" He asked.

"Maybe it was trying to be inconspicuous." I shrugged and headed up to the door, leaving the two boys by the car.

"This is your late husband?" I asked Mrs Phelps, an ageing lady with teeth a little to white to be considered real. I was inspecting a photograph of her husband, George, who didn't look like anything special – just an ordinary man with a clearly more than modest amount of money.

"Yes, that was my George." She smiled and spoke in hushed tones.

"And you said he was a..." Dean paused on his position on the plush white leather sofa, "Dentist?"

"Mm-hm." The widow nodded, her eyes bright, "He was headed to a convention in Denver. Do you know that he was petrified to fly? For him to go like that..." She trailed off and heaved a loud sob, causing me to resist the urge to roll my eyes.

"How long were you married?" Sam asked from beside me and I stifled a groan – why couldn't we skip over all the soppy stuff?

"Thirteen years." Mrs Phelps sniffed, taking the photograph I was holding from me and staring down at it.

"In all that time," I faked a sweet smile, "Did you notice anything... strange about him, anything out of the ordinary?" I asked, widening my eyes innocently – as if I had just plucked the question out of thin air.

"Well... uh, he had acid reflux, if that's what you mean." Mrs Phelps replied with a small shrug of her narrow shoulders.

"I mean, it goes without saying: it doesn't make any sense." Sam said once Mrs Phelps had said her goodbyes to us.

"A middle aged dentist with an ulcer isn't exactly personified." Dean made a face.

"Dean's right: we need to get inside that NTSB or whatever it was warehouse, check out that wreckage." I nodded to the two brothers.

"Okay, but if we're gonna go down that route, we'd better look the part – I mean: we won't even get through the doors if you're dressed like _that_." Sam smirked as he gestured to my tight black tunic, black trousers, black jacket and boots.

"This is magic clothing, protects me." I raised an eyebrow at him and looked down at myself, "I thought black was formal, though?" I murmured, confused. When I got no response I looked up and saw Dean and Sam looking at eachother with an amused expression on their faces.

The boys walked out of a shop named _Mort's for style _wearing crisp black suits with white shirts, I met them outside wearing a ridiculous tight single shoulder black dress with my hair tied up in a bun, I had let a few strands loose to frame my face. I had practised walking in the heels I had to wear and I had just about managed it, but I dearly missed my boots and coat. "Man, I look like one of the Blues Brothers." Dean complained as he adjusted his collar.

"No you don't," Sam reassured him, "You look more like a... seventh-grader at his first dance." He smirked and I laughed, Dean frowned and looked at me, but then his eyes travelled down my body and his frown disappeared and was replaced with a smirk.

"Wow, Steph. That dress really brings out the hooker in you." He smirked and I rolled my eyes and punched him, hard. "Ow!" He complained and rubbed his arm.

"Serves you right." I glared at him, but he wasn't paying attention – Dean was looking sadly down at himself again.

"I hate this thing." He muttered to himself in a sad voice.

"Hey, you want into that warehouse or not? So shut up, both of you." Sam silenced us and walked away, Dean caught my eye and I rolled my eyes in the direction of Sam, he made faces at his turned back and I chuckled, turning it into a cough when Sam turned back to us. At that point I stumbled in the heels and swore loudly, causing both the Winchesters to burst out laughing at me.

"Not one word, either of you." I growled at them.

We entered the warehouse and showed the badges Dean had fashioned for us earlier, the guard looked us up and down and nodded us through, we walked into the empty hangar and I shut the door behind us. As soon as we were alone Dean pulled a device from his jacket pocket and put earplugs in his ears.

"What is that?" I asked as the lights on the top of the object flashed red once, indicating it had turned on.

"It's an EMF meter, it reads electromagnetic frequencies." Dean replied, holding it out at arms length and moving it slowly round as he surveyed the dark room.

"Why does that one look like a busted-up walkman?" Sam asked as he stood beside me looking at his older brother in confusion. Dean sighed and took one of the earplugs out and held the EMF meter for the both of us to see.

"'Cause that's what I made it out of. It's homemade." He looked at us in near bewilderment, and then grinned as he put the earplug back in his ear. Sam shook his head and looked at his brother as he turned away from us.

"Yeah, I can see that." He muttered and I grinned, but Dean turned back round with his grin long gone, and a look of hurt reflecting on his face. We followed him in silence as he checked over every inch of the remains of the aircraft, the last thing we did was the emergency door handle. When Dean ran his EMF meter over it and it bleeped and lit up green.

"Check out the emergency door handle." Dean said and I nodded and crouched closer to the door, I ran my finger over a short length of it's surface and when I held it up a peculiar yellow dust had covered my fingertip.

"What is this stuff?" I asked them, Dean shrugged whilst Sam came forward holding a bag and a small disposable brush.

"Only one way to find out." He answered as he scraped some of the dust off into the bag. Suddenly the sound of running footsteps echoed around the room and we heard the unmistakeable sound of the safety of lots of guns being taken off, we looked at eachother and I pointed to the emergency exit and they nodded. We pushed it open and walked out casually.

"Well, that went we-." I was cut off by several alarms blaring overhead, Sam looked at Dean and I in agitation.

"Run?" Dean suggested and we nodded, I took one step before sighing and kicking the heels away and running off in barefoot, I found the two boys looking up at a fence with barbed wire circling the top.

"Hold still." I ordered them and splayed my hands, air rushed and the two brothers cleared the fence in a terrific leap, I concentrated on using the air once again to cushion their fall and they landed safely. I smiled and snapped my palms out again, feeling the currents of air moving to push me over the fence, I landed and came up in a roll, my hair coming undone but I didn't care – we were safe.

"That was... awesome." Dean grinned once we were inside the car and speeding away from the warehouse, he looked at me in the rearview mirror, his eyes shining. "How did you do that?" He asked, I smiled back at him and shrugged.

"Magic." I replied with a wink. "So where to next, partners?" I asked, leaning forward and resting my hand on Sam's headrest, he pulled out the bag of yellow powder and held it up for us to see.

"We need to go to Jerry and see what he makes of this."

"Huh." Jerry said as he looked into the microscope, he had a camera on it projecting whatever was in the microscope onto the computer screen, "This stuff is definitely sulphur." He nodded as he looked up at us.

"You're sure?" Sam asked, Jerry looked at him and pointed to the microscope.

"Take a look for yourself." He welcomed, outside Jerry's office there was a loud banging noise followed by an angry male voice:

"You effin' piece of crap..." Drifted in through the doorway, Jerry sighed and clasped his hands together.

"If you could all excuse me, I have an idiot to fire." He gave us an edged smile and hurried from his office, Dean walked over to Sam as Jerry exited the room, I gazed at the computer screen as Dean looked into it. "Hey. Einstein. Yeah, you. What the hell are you doing? Put the wrench down-." Jerry's angry voice was cut off as I quietly shut the door, blocking off the sound of the employer being rebuked.

"Thanks, Steph. You know, there's not too many things that leave behind a sulphuric residue." Dean murmured.

"So, what does?" I asked them both.

"Demons... You think it's demonic possession?" Sam gave his brother a questioning glance.

"It would explain how a mortal man would ave the strength to open up an emergency hatch." Dean nodded as he looked up at us.

"So, under possession, you think it's possible?" I asked, the film _Constantine _running through my mind.

"Yeah, if the guy was possessed, it's possible." Sam nodded, beside him Dean sighed annoyedly.

"This goes way beyond floating over a bed or barfing pea soup. I mean, it's one thing to possess a person – but to use them to take down an entire airplane?" Dean said in a disgusted tone.

"Have you guys ever heard something like this before?" I asked them, hopeful that they would know how to take it out easily.

"Never." Dean shook his head.

_Great._

I didn't like research with Skulduggery and I didn't like it now: we were two hours into our research and our motel room was covered with ancient news articles and weird lore on demonic possession, pages were taped to the walls and strewn across the beds, Dean and I were pretending to be reading research books, but we had secretly purchased comic books downstairs whilst Sam was laying waste into a computer. "So, every religion in every world culture has the concept of demons and demonic possession, right? I mean Christian, Native American, Hindu, you name it." Sam shrugged, beside me Dean looked up from his comic book and gave his brother a confused expression before nodding vigorously.

"Uhh yeah, but none of them, uh, describe anything like this." Dean stuttered, Sam gave him an odd look before continuing.

"Well, that's not exactly true. You see: according to Japanese beliefs, certain demons are behind certain disasters, both natural and man-made. One causes earthquakes, another causes disease." The younger Winchester explained.

"And this one causes plane crashes." I answered, getting up from my seat and stretching, glad to be back in my tunic and trousers, "So what? We have a demon that's evolved with the times and found a way to ratchet up the body count?" I asked them.

"Yeah. You know, who knows how many planes it's brought down before this one?" Sam nodded, behind me Dean snorted and turned away.

"What is it? What's wrong?" I asked, confused.

"I don't know, man. This isn't our normal gig. I mean, demons, they don't want anything – just death and destruction for its own sake. This is big..." The older brother trailed off, looking back at us and then turning his head away again, "And I wish Dad was here" He added in a soft voice, the room fell into silene and I looked between the two brothers – not wanting to interrupt their moment.

"Yeah. Me too." Sam nodded, he looked up at me and I offered up a small smile. Dean's phone burst into _Purple Haze _by _Jimi Hendrix_ and he answered it quickly.

"Hello?" Dean asked, "Oh, hey, Jerry." Dean glanced up at Sam and I and then put his phone on loudspeaker so the whole room could hear the man.

"...Friend, Chuck Lambert is dead." Jerry's mournful voice told us, I widened my eyes in shock and gasped, Sam sat down in his chair and put his head in his hands.

"Jerry; I'm sorry. What happened?" Dean asked.

"He and his buddy went up in a small twin about an hour ago. The plane went down." Jerry answered.

"Where'd this happen?" Dean replied.

"Err about sixty miles west of here, near Nazareth." Jerry's respond came out loud ad clear through the mouthpiece.

"I'll try to ignore the irony of that." Dean muttered.

"I'm sorry?" Jerry asked, confused.

"Nothing. Jerry, hang in there, all right? We'll catch up with you soon." Dean assured him and then reached down and hung up the phone.

"So, Nazareth?" I smiled grimly.

"Uh-huh." The two boys nodded and we walked out the door.

We drove straight to Jerry right after we had surveyed Nazareth, we had found a similar yellow dusty substance in the pilot's cockpit and Sam had packed it into another one of the clear plastic bags and had given it straight over to the man. "Sulphur?" Dean asked him, Jerry had put it into his microscope the moment we handed it over to him. He looked up from the microscope and nodded at us.

"Well that's great," I sighed, "So, that's two plane crashes involving Chuck Lambert. This demon sounds like it was after him."

"Well, with all due respect to Chuck, if that's the case, that would be the good news." Sam responded.

"What's the bad news?" Dean looked up at his brother in confusion.

"Chuck's plane went down exactly forty minutes into flight. And get this – so did flight 2485." Sam answered, pointing to his imaginary watch for emphasis.

"Forty minutes? What does that mean?" I asked, frowning and tilting my head in confusion.

"It's, err, biblical numerology. You know Noah's Ark – it rained for forty days and forty nights, the number means death." Dean explained backhandedly, I nodded slowly.

"I went back, and there have been six plane crashes over the last decade that all went down exactly forty minutes in." Sam said, I looked at him interestedly.

"Any survivors?" I asked him.

"No. Or not until now, at least, not until flight 2485, for some reason." Sam replied and I frowned thoughtfully, then snapped my fingers excitedly when something hit me.

"On the cockpit voice recorder – remember what the EVP said?" I asked, pointing to the computer animatedly.

"'No survivors." Dean nodded, cocking his head to the right as he thought about something.

"It's going after all the survivors." Dean realised.

"Trying to finish the job." Sam agreed grimly.

Dean was driving on the way to the airport, Sam was on the phone: "Really? Well, thank you for taking our survey, and if you do plan to fly – please don't forget your friends at United Britannia Airlines. Thanks." He hung up and smiled happily, "Alright, that takes care of Blaine Sanderson and Dennis Holloway. They're not flying anytime soon." He said.

"So that only means the flight attendant Amanda something is left." I grinned in relief.

"But the problem is, is that her sister Karen told me that Amanda's flight leaves Indianapolis at eight pm. It's her first night back on the job." Sam told us, there was silence and then Dean hit his hands on the steering wheel.

"That sounds like just our luck." He growled.

"Dean, this is a five hour drive, man, even with you behind the wheel." Sam told him quietly.

"Call Amanda's cellphone again, see if we can't head her off at the pass." Dean told him, his foot pressed down on the accelerator and the car sped forward.

"I already left her three voice messages, Dean, she must have turned her cellphone off." Sam shook his head, "God, we're never gonna make it." He sighed.

"We'll make it." Dean told his brother in a determined voice. The car descended into silence and I gripped the headrests and leant forward, silently willing the vehicle to get to the airport all the more faster.

We rushed into the bustling airport and sprinted to the nearest Departure Board, I scanned the board and pointed to the one we wanted. "Right there, they're boarding in thirty minutes." I said.

"Ok, we still have some cards to play. We need to find a phone." Dean told us in a calm tone, we walked away from the crowds and over to a courtesy phone, Dean picked it up. "Hi. Gate Thirteen." Dean said in a nice, friendly voice. "I'm trying to contact Amanda Walker," Dean spoke clearly into the mouthpiece, "She's a flight attendant on fight, umm..." Dean turned to look at the Departure Board, "Flight 424." He told her, he paused and checked the time on the clock on the wall nearby, "Come on." He muttered impatiently, "Miss Walker. Hi, this is Dr James Hetfield from St Francis Memorial Hospital. We have a Karen Walker here." Dean introduced himself smoothly. "Nothing serious," He assured her quickly, "Just a minor car accident, but she was injured, so-." He stopped abruptly and Sam and I looked at him, Dean paused when Amanda's voice had stopped speaking into the earpiece. "You what?" He asked her dully, the colour draining from his face, "Uh, well... there must be some mistake." Dean tried, Sam and I exchanged a frown and tried to edge closer to the phone so we could hear what Amanda was saying to the older Winchester. "Guilty as charged." It was frightening how quickly Dean's persona changed from a professional doctor to a casual guy, "He's really sorry." He told her in an apologetic voice. "Yes, but... he really needs to see you tonight, so-." Dean frowned when he was cut off again, "Don't be like that," He smiled thinly, his eyes a little panicked, "Come on, the guy's a mess. Really, it's pathetic." He joked feebly, "Oh, yeah." He suddenly nodded, as if he was agreeing with whatever the flight attendant had said. "No, no. Wait, Amanda. Amanda!" He called into the phone loudly, attracting the attention of the passers by. "Damn it!" Dean exclaimed angrily, slamming the phone back down onto the receiver.

"Don't worry, it's fine. I can try and call her, get her to-."

"It's no use, Steph, we're gonna have to switch to plan B. We're getting on that plane." Sam cut me off, I stared at him in shock, my mouth hung open, Sam looked at his brother and I with a strange look, "Guys, that plane is leaving with over a hundred passengers on board, and if we're right, that plane is gonna crash." He told us, I sighed and nodded.

"Yeah, Sam, we know." I replied.

"Okay. So we're all getting on the plane, we need to find that demon and exorcise it. I'll get the tickets. You and Steph get whatever you can out of the trunk. Whatever that will make it through the security. Meet me back here in five minutes." He instructed us, I shifted my feet at the thought of getting a plane: I had always hated flying – the idea of dying thirty thousand feet above the ground just made me sick to stomach. "Are you guys... ok?" Sam asked, looking at Dean and I closely.

"No, not really." Dean and I said in unison, we glanced at eachother and smiled weakly, my legs were shaking slightly.

"What is it? What's wrong?" Sam asked us.

"The flying." I blurted out.

"What about it?" Sam shrugged.

"I hate it, I can't do it." I admitted quietly, suddenly missing Fletcher right now.

"Yeah, me either." Dean joined in, looking a little pale.

"You're both joking, right?" Sam asked, crossing his arms.

"Do we look like we're joking? Why do you think I drive everywhere, Sam?" Dean snapped at his brother.

"Alright. I'll go." Sam shrugged, Dean and I stared at him in disbelief.

"You're kidding me, right?" I scoffed.

"No, I'll do this one on my own." Sam shook his head and shrugged nonchalantly.

"What are you, nuts?" Dean demanded, and I nodded in agreement.

"Dean's right, Sam. You said it yourself – the plane's gonna crash." I narrowed my eyes at him angrily.

"Right, we can all do it together, or I can do this one by myself: I'm not seeing a third option here." Sa shrugged again.

"Come on!" Dean protested, my head felt light as I looked at the boarding desk and then back to Sam. "Really?" Dean continued, I finally sagged and nodded once.

"Flight attendants, please cross-check luggage before departure." The intercom sounded all around us Sam lightly shoved me down the aisle and into the seat. When I was sat down I looked at my hands and saw they were shaking violently. "Both of you, just try to relax." Sam advised the two of us in soothing tones, I closed my eyes ad tried to beat off the image of the plane crashing onto Earth.

"Shut up, Sam." I murmured as I gripped the armrests of the seats, when the plane started taxiing down the runway my nails dug into the soft cushioned velvet, when the plane lifted off I tilted my head upwards and squeezed my eyes shut as we rose into the air, breathing deeply and trying to think of home.

When I finally opened my eyes I saw Dean was in a similar position to me, only he was humming a song, I recognised the first few bars of _Some kind of monster _by _Metallica _and couldn't help but crack a faint smile. "You're humming _Metallica_?" Sam asked his older brother in disparagement.

"Calms me down." Dean bit out.

"Look, both of you: I get you're nervous, all right? But you have to stay focused." Sam urged, I jerkily tilted my head to him and looked at him in fear, jumping a little as the plane rumbled.

"Relax, it's just a little turbulence, nothing to worry about, Steph." He spoke to me in hushed tones.

"How can I relax, Sam?" I demanded, terror shining in my eyes.

"You just need to chill out, ok? Breath. Because we have thirty two minutes and counting to track this thig down, or whoever it's possessing, anyway, and perform a full on exorcism." Sam explained, I took deep breaths and nodded. Beside Sam Dean leant forward and rolled his eyes at his brother.

"Yeah, on a crowded plane. That's gonna be easy." Dean scoffed and the fear crept back into my stomach again, making my hands shake again, Sam grabbed them and held them tightly and then looked at me with a smile.

"We'll take it one step at a time, alright?" He looked at me with a friendly smile, I nodded hastily, focusing on keeping my breathing under control and fighting the fear down. "Now, who's it possessing?" Sam asked, looking around at the passengers.

"It's usually gonna be somebody with some sort of weakness, you know, a chink in the armour that the demon can worm through. Somebody with an addiction or some sort of emotional distress." Dean shrugged as he surveyed the passengers on the other side of the aisle.

"Well, this is Amanda's first flight after the crash. If I were her, I'd be pretty messed up." I told them, Dean nodded slowly as his gaze flickered to one of the hostesses moving down the aisle towards us.

"Excuse me, are you Amanda?" Dean asked the hostess, she gave a smile and shook her head.

"No, I'm not." The woman shook her head, Dean gave a small smile and nodded.

"Oh, my mistake." He apologised and the hostess moved on, we all looked at the hostess who was at the front of the plane sorting through some cardboard coffee cups.

"Alright, well, that's got to be Amanda back there, so I'll go talk to her, and, uh, I'll get a read on her mental state." Dean shrugged and stood up from his seat, Sam grabbed his arm before he walked away.

"What if she's already possessed?" Sam asked him.

"There are ways to test that." Dean smiled and went into his rucksack under his seat, he unzipped it and rummaged in it before he bought out a glass bottle in the shape of the Virgin Mary, the bottle was filled with water. "I bought holy water." Dean said, anticipating my next question.

"Does that stuff work?" I asked, trusting my voice not to break in fear.

"You'd be surprised." Dean nodded and held up the bottle triumphantly.

"No." Sam shook his head and snatched the bottle from his brother and tucking it into the pocket of his hoodie. "I think we can go more subtle, if she's possessed she'll flinch at the name of God." He told him, Dean looked at him before nodding.

"Oh, nice." He said, impressed at his younger brother's intuition, he turned to go but Sam reached out and grabbed his arm again. "What?" He asked.

"Say it in Latin." Sam told him.

"I know." He rolled his eyes and walked away.

"What is it in Latin?" I asked the younger brother, watching Dean go.

"Uh, in Latin, it's _Christo_." Sam explained and I nodded, remembering the word for the future. The plane shook and I gasped, flattening myself into the seat and gripping to my armrests so hard my knuckles turned white.

"Hey, hey. It's ok, it's ok." Sam whispered to me, I nodded jerkily and breathed deeply and closing my eyes, when I opened them I saw Dean walking back over to us.

"Right, well, she's got to be the most well-adjusted person on the planet." Dean huffed and collapsed into his chair.

"You said _Christo_?" I asked him, he nodded.

"Yeah."

"And?" Sam leaned forward in his seat.

"There's no demon in her. There's no demon getting in her." Dean sighed.

"So, if it's on the plane, it can be anyone, anywhere." I sighed exasperatedly, I released my death gip on the armrests and relaxed my shoulders a little, the plane suddenly shook and I held my head in my hands and squeezed my eyes shut.

"Come on! That can't be normal!" I heard Dean groan.

"Guys, guys, it's just a turbulence, ok?" I heard Sam say but I shook my head and opened my eyes.

"Sam, this plane is going to crash, ok? How can I be calm at a time like this?" I bit out, gritting my teeth.

"Steph's right, Sammy. Quit treating us like we're frigging four." Dean snapped, hoping to make Sam Bck down, but he stood his ground and looked at the two of us calmly.

"You both need to calm down." Sam told us.

"Well, I'm sorry, I can't." Dean shook his head as the plane shook, I ran a hand through my hair and stood up.

"I think I'm gonna be sick." I told them and made my way down the aisle to the end of the plane, I made my way to the bathroom and cursed under my breath when I saw it was occupied and took deep breaths, my hand gripped one of the shelves containing food as I waited for the door to open. When it finally opened the co-pilot emerged and I forced a smile at him and walked into the bathroom, not bothering to close the door as I clutched the sides of the sink, breathing deeply. The co-pilot came back in and looked at me sympathetically.

"You a nervous flyer?" He asked in a kind voice.

"Yeah, it makes me kinda panicky." I laughed shakily and he gave me smile and closed the door, I frowned and the man suddenly lunged, I cried out I shock and fell backwards as the man clamped his hand around my mouth. I tried to fight him but the man was strong – unnaturally strong, his eyes turned black and my own eyes widened in surprise: _well, I found the demon. _Black smoked poured from the co-pilot's mouth and he dropped, his hand falling away from my mouth and I gasped for breath, but it was a bad move. The smoke shot towards my open mouth and poured down my throat, I fell to my knees and tried to cough it back up, but it was no use. I closed my eyes and the cold presence spread through me like a wildfire and the demon smiled my smile, getting up and inspecting me in the bathroom mirror. "Hi, I'm Stephanie." The demon practised and I screamed inside my head, urging my body to get rid of the demon plaguing my insides. The demon felt what I was trying to do and grinned evilly at the reflection in the mirror, my eyes going black. Without wanting my arms and legs to move, I moved out of the bathroom and back to Sam and Dean, they gave me a concerned look as I sat back down.

"Are you ok, Steph?" Sam asked and the demon smiled my smile, making me scream in rage as I was locked away in my head.

"I'm feeling much better, thank you," The demon replied, "I was thinking: maybe the demon's just not on the plane." It suggested, Sam and Dean frowned at me.

"You believe that?" Dean asked and the demon shrugged my shoulders.

"Well, I will if you will." I answered without wanting to.

"No, I don't think so – Amanda's on this plane and she's the target." Sam shook his head, "I think we should check again." He told us and Dean and the demon nodded in agreement. We stood up and the demon followed Sam and Dean as they used the EMF meter to try and detect the demon, we made it to the bathroom and the EMF meter beeped once, the co-pilot exited the bathroom rubbing his head and Dean called out to him.

"Christo." Dean called, the demon took a sharp intake of breath but Sam and Dean didn't notice, inside I was pounding in my head, the demon locked eyes with the co-pilot and changed the colour of it's eyes. The man gasped and his eyes widened, in front of the demon Sam and Dean exchanged a look and the demon changed it's eyes back to my ones.

"I think we got our guy." The demon spoke up, Dean looked at me and nodded thoughtfully, switching the EMF meter off. We made our way to the other end of the aircraft where Amanda was stood.

"She's not gonna believe this." Sam sighed as we neared her, the demon looked at him and tapped my wrist.

"We only have twelve minutes." The demon reminded him and then turned back and smiled, making me rage inside myself.

"Oh, hi. Flight's not too bumpy for you, I hope." Amanda smiled at Dean.

"Actually, that's kind of what we need to talk to you about." Dean smiled back and spoke in a slightly hushed tone.

"Um, okay. What can I do for you?" Her eyes flickered to the demon as Sam closed the curtain to obscure the passengers from the four of us.

"All right, this is gonna sound nuts, but we just don't have time for the whole 'the truth is out there' speech right now." Dean told her off handedly.

"Look, we know you were on flight 2485." The demon told her, Amanda's smiled disappeared and she looked at us guardedly.

"Who are you guys?" She demanded.

"Now, we've spoken to some over survivors. We know something brought down that plane and it wasn't a mechanical failure." Sam ignored her previous question.

"We need your help because we need to stop it from happening again here, now." The demon told her.

"I'm sorry, I – I'm very busy. I have to go back." Amanda stuttered and tried to brush past Dean, but he reached out and grabbed her arm.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Wait a second, I'm not gonna hurt you, ok? But listen to me, uh... The pilot in 2485: Chuck Lambert – he's dead." Dean told her, and Amanda faltered.

"Wait. What? Chuck is dead?" She exclaimed.

"He died in a plane crash. Now, that's two plane crashes in two months. That doesn't strike you as strange?" The demon told her, I could feel it was fighting down a smile tugging at the corners of my mouth.

"I-."

"Look, there was something wrong with 2485. Now maybe you sensed it, maybe you didn't. But there's something wrong with this flight, too." Sam abruptly cut her off.

"Amanda, you have to believe us." Dean urged her, the stewardess looked at the three of us in turn, then bit her lip.

"On... On 2485, there was this man. He – He had these eyes." Amanda stammered.

"Yes, that's exactly what we're talking about." The demon gave Amanda a knowing smile.

"I don't understand, what are you asking me to do?" Amanda asked, confused.

"The co-pilot, we need you to bring him back here." Dean told her.

"Why? What does he have to do with anything?" The stewardess questioned.

"No time to explain, we just need to talk to him. Ok?" I told the woman, and lightly shoved her towards the curtain, she took two steps before turning back to us again.

"How am I supposed to go in the cockpit and get the co-pilot-."

"Do whatever it takes. Tell him there's something broken back here, whatever will get him out of that cockpit." Sam cut her off but Amanda didn't look so sure.

"Do you know that I could lose my job if you-."

"Okay, well you're gonna lose a lot more if you don't help us out." The demon cut her off this time, I watched as Amanda hesitated and nodded once before leaving, and I began fighting in my mind at the demon, but it was no use: being possessed by a remnant was easier than being possessed by a demon from hell. We peeked through the curtain and saw Amanda leading the co-pilot towards us, Sam pulled out the holy water and Dean pulled out his Dad's journal and handed it to Sam, the demon eyed the journal and water and I felt the demon's distress at the sight of the objects. The demon then eyed the emergency exit and smiled to itself, and I began pounding away in my mind, screaming for Sam and Dean to help. The plane suddenly shook and Dean made a face and clung on to the nearby shelves, Sam was looking at me closely.

"Steph, are you ok?" He asked and the demon looked at him strangely and then smiled.

"Of course I am, why wouldn't I be?" The demon replied, Sam and Dean looked at eachother and then back at the demon.

"Are you sure?" Dean asked, tilting his head and narrowing his eyes.

"Yeah, I'm sure." The demon smiled wider.

"Uh, wow, you seem... fine." Sam looked at the demon in shock and the demon nodded. In my head I was hammering at the corners of my mind, trying to break the hold and get out. Sam and Dean looked at eachother and the demon frowned and I felt it's confusion, the co-pilot entered through the curtain and frowned.

"Yeah, what's the problem?" He asked, but he didn't get an answer. Dean swung round and punched him on the nose, knocking the co-pilot to the floor, the demon smiled as Dean pinned him down and put duct tape over his mouth.

"Wait, what are you doing? You said you were just gonna talk to him." Amanda cried out in a whisper as she came in through the curtain, Dean splashes holy water on the co-pilot but stopped when nothing happened and he hesitated, holding up his hand.

"Sam, wait! It's not him, he's not possessed." Dean looked at his brother in confusion, Sam looked back at his brother and nodded.

"You're right." He agreed and turned to the demon, "Christo." He said to it and the demon tried, it tried so hard, not to flinch but it jumped all the same. Sam made a move towards the demon but it held up it's hand and splayed it, the air shimmered and Sam flew off his feet and crashed into the wall.

"I must admit, I'm going to regret sacrificing this body to kill everybody else, she's strong, pretty, in perfect health _and _all this magic that she has to boot." The demon smiled and it's eyes turned black, it held it's hands out and clicked it's fingers and flames appeared. "All this power, literally at the girl's fingertips." The demon sighed happily as it let the flames die out and moved over to the emergency exit and gripped the handle, then faked a look of regret. "Killing poor, not so innocent little Valkyrie will definitely been the most regrettable thing I've ever done, but then again..." The demon trailed off and shrugged and gripped the handle tighter, preparing to wrench it open.

"Her eyes! Oh my God, what's wrong with her?" Amanda exclaimed when she came back in to check on us, her eyes wide and staring at the demon.

"She's possessed and we need to exorcise her." Dean said, not taking his eyes off the demon, the demon laughed and changed the eyes from black to normal, wide eyed and scared.

"Dean you wouldn't hurt me, would you?" The demon mocked, and then chuckled.

"I wouldn't hurt _Stephanie_," Dean corrected, picking up the holy water bottle Sam had dropped, "But you, however..." He trailed off and threw it over the demon, it screamed my scream and covered its face in its hands when the water touched it, sizzling and burning where it hit, when the demon opened its eyes Dean was ready to put duct tape over the demon's mouth and in it to the floor. "Now, Sam!" He called as the demon writhed and struggled below him, above him, Sam had stood up and was holding the journal out. He began chanting in Latin and inside the demon writhed, the cold presence strained and curled inside me, the demon thrashed harder and Dean narrowed his eyes and tightened his grip on my wrists "Hurry up, Sam. I don't know how much I can hold her." Dean told his brother and behind him Sam started speaking faster, the words swirled around my head and rung in my ears. The demon fought harder and suddenly broke free of Dean's grip, and used its hand to whip the shadows from the corners of the room, the tendrils whipped at Dean and he fell back, "What the hell was that?!" He yelled as he rolled out of harms way from the sinister lashes, the demon smirked as it stood up and studied the black ring on my finger.

"Hmmm... Valkyrie's memories and thoughts tell me that adept magic she 'dabbles' in, is necromancy. Kinda handy." The demon smirked again and then looked over at Sam, "I know what happened to your girlfriend. I'm guessing she must have died screaming! And let's just say even now..." The demon leant closer to Sam and smiled a knowing smile, "She's burning." The demon whispered, Dean's hands wrapped around its waist and the demon allowed itself to be dragged away from Sam, who now sat there in silence. Dean slammed the demon in the wall, a look of fury on his face, "You're gonna hit Stephanie, Dean. Really?" The demon smirked as Dean faltered, and shoved him away easily. "You know," It said as it walked to the middle of the room, "It's funny, even now Stephanie is trying so hard, locked away in the dark recesses of her own mind, to break free. But I'm stronger than her, and I know her better than anyone right now: I have access to her memories. Thoughts, feelings – you name it..." The demon trailed off and frowned slightly, "And looking through her mind, delving deep down into her head," The demon smiled, "There's someone else in here, and she wants to come out and play... although Stephanie's warning me, even after I took her body over she's still warning me..." The demon trailed off again and Sam and Dean exchanged a confused glance, "Hmmm, what could possibly be so bad that Stephanie would rather have little old me possess her than let the other person in her head surface?" The demon muttered to itself, a look of puzzlement etched onto it's face, "So, come on Stephanie, tell me who it is... who's waiting in the dark?" The demon murmured as it tunnelled deeper into Stephanie's mind.

"Me." Darquesse said and the demon cried out and fell back, clutching it's head. Sam and Dean jumped to it and picked up the journal and began chanting in Latin, Darquesse looked up and smirked, then drifted away, allowing the demon to re-emerge. Another thirty seconds more and the exorcism purged the demon from my mind and body, the cold shadow that had manifested and held me in it's clutches had gone, leaving me gasping on the floor.

"It's gone it's gone it's gone." I breathed, relief washing over me as I flexed my fingers, glad that I was the one doing it.

"Stephanie! Are you alright?" Sam ran over and knelt beside me, I looked up and nodded once.

"Where'd it go?" I asked.

"It's in the plane. Hurry up, guys, we gotta finish it." Dean told us before he rushed out the curtain, Sam helped me up and grabbed the journal before we were both in close pursuit as we entered the main area of the plane it suddenly dipped violently, sending Dean, Sam and I shooting down the aisle and slamming into various objects, I groaned and peeled myself away from the wall, but didn't attempt to step away from it. It was happening: the plane was groaning and passengers were screaming in their seats as the lights flickered, we were going to crash. I glimpsed Sam among the throng of people and my eyes looked down to see what he was trying to do, I splayed my hand and the book shot up and into his hand, he looked over at me and I smiled, he nodded and opened the book, chanting the rest of the Latin script, I noticed Dean on the opposite wall with his eyes screwed shut and a petrified look on his face. The plane suddenly surged as an electrical charge swept through it, the lights stopped flickering and the plane levelled out. The passengers quietened down and the stewardesses came forward asking if everyone was ok, I noticed Sam shutting the book and then staring down at the front cover, his expression unreadable.

We were one of the first to disembark once the plane had touched down, we were stood a little way away watching paramedics and security agents check on everyone, Amanda was being interviewed by someone and the co-pilot was in a wheelchair with a bloodied nose and a blanket draped over him. Amanda caught our eyes and mouthed _Thank you _to us, we nodded and smiled at her. "Let's get out of here." Dean told us and we turned and walked away.

"Never again." I moaned and rubbed my head against a headache, Dean looked over at me and gave me a concerned look.

"You're sure you're ok?" He asked me for the millionth time, I rolled my eyes and nodded.

"I'm a big girl, if I can't handle possession then I just won't make it in the world." I joked, Dean scoffed and shook his head.

"Mmm-hmm." He chuckled and then looked at his younger brother, "What about you, Sam?" He asked, Sam stopped walking altogether and turned to us.

"It knew about Jessica." Sam whispered, and I couldn't help but feel guilty: the demon had taunted Sam in the cruellest of ways using my face, it must be hard for him to adjust from seeing me as a friend then a foe.

"Sam, these things, they – they read minds. They lie, alright? That's all it was." Dean reassured his brother.

"Yeah." Sam muttered, although he didn't sound too convinced.

"Come on. You look like you could both use a bed to fall in." Dean smiled and we continued our walk to the exit.

"Nobody knows what you guys did, but I do. A lot of people could have been killed." Jerry smiled at us, he had called us into his office the day following the exorcism, and we had reluctantly agreed. "Your Dad's gonna be real proud." Jerry continued, shaking our hands vigorously.

"We'll see you around, Jerry." Sam smiled politely at him.

"You know, Jerry." Dean begun.

"Yeah?" The balding man asked.

"I meant to ask you, how did you get my cellphone number, anyway? I've only had it for, like, six months." Dean asked.

"Your Dad gave it to me." Jerry grinned and we all did a double-take.

"What?" I asked, shocked.

"When did you talk to him?" Sam's question followed closely behind mine.

"I mean, I didn't exactly talk to him, but I called his number. His voice message said to give you a call." Jerry shrugged his explanation and then smiled again, "Thanks again, guys." He waved before we left his office in stunned silence.

"This doesn't make any sense. I mean, I've called Dad's number, like, fifty times. It's been out of service." Sam explained, we were leaning on the bonnet of Dean's car outside Jerry's building. Dean sighed and pulled out his phone and thumbed the keypad for a few moments, then held it out so we could hear it.

"This is John Winchester. I can;t be reached. If this is an emergency, call my son, Dean: 785-555-0179. He can help." A gruff male voice sounded before it cut off, we were silent for a few moments before Sam stalked to the passenger side of the car and slammed it as he got in.

"Poor guy." I murmured, before jumping off the bonnet and walking to the door.

"Steph?" Dean called and I turned and looked at him, squinting in the daylight.

"Yeah?" I asked.

"What's the deal with the necromancy?" He asked and I paused and looked at the cold ring on my finger.

"You'd be surprised how easy I picked it up, Dean. I said I dabbled, I didn't say I dabbled in anything particularly appealing." I told him, before getting into the car and sitting in it without another word.

**Author's Note: Sorry This one's a little late! My work got the best of me this week I guess. I'll upload the next chapter when I get 20 reviews, so comment if you want more!**


	5. Chapter 5

Winchester and Cain Chapter 05 – Bloody Mary

_Valkyrie's P.O.V_

Dean sighed happily when the car eventually rolled to a stop in the car park of the hospital in Toledo, Ohio, we were both awake whilst Sam was shifting in his sleep. "Sam?" I called softly, leaning forward and shaking his shoulder lightly, but I didn't get any response from the youngest Winchester.

"Sam, wake up!" Dean shouted loudly, Sam jerked awake and looked around dazedly, he sat up and rubbed his eyes.

"I take it I was having a nightmare." Sam sighed and Dean and I nodded.

"Yeah, another one." I told him, giving him a concerned glance.

"Well, hey, at least I got some sleep," Sam shrugged and then glanced at me, "Unlike _some_." He accused and I shrugged once. It was true: I hadn't been able to get the moment Darquesse broke free from the dark corners of my mind to fight against the demon out of my head, every time I closed my eyes it was there, lying in wait and ready to play the scene in my head.

"I had... things on my mind." I dismissed the accusation back-handedley.

"What kind of things? The fact that your 'dabbling' is in with Necromancy?" Dean scoffed, holding up a hand to show quotation marks.

"I was going to tell you." I mumbled, twisting the comfortingly cold black ring on my finger.

"Yeah, of course you were. That's why when we asked you what else you did you said nothing." Dean snapped at me coldly, and I shrunk in my seat, suddenly missing Skulduggery and my home dearly.

"Stop it Dean, Steph probably didn't tell us because she was scared you were going to react like this." Sam defended me, and Dean glared daggers at his brother, but Sam held his gaze. "And besides," He continued, "We wouldn't have even known about the necromancy unless the demon possessing her hadn't used it." Sam reasoned, Dean gazed at his brother for the longest time before he softened and looked back at me.

"He's right, I'm sorry, Steph. It wasn't _you _who used the magic against us, I shouldn't be punishing you for something you didn't do." Dean reluctantly apologised, and I shrugged simply.

"It's ok, I probably would have reacted the same way." I smiled, and then Dean sighed in relief.

"Phew! Chick-flick moment over." He breathed happily and I raised an eyebrow.

"You're so weird." I announced in an amused tone.

"Right, now that's over and done with. We need to get to the reason we travelled all the way here in the first place." Sam moved the topic on and started rifling through his backpack, "Where is here?" He asked when he bought out a folded newspaper.

"Toledo, Ohio." I told him proudly, and Sam shot me an odd look.

"What? I'm trying to learn how to say it properly so I don't look a fool when we're questioning people." I explained with wide eyes.

"You don't need to pronounce something wrong to scare people, Steph, that's what your face is for." Dean joked and I glared daggers at him, opening my mouth to retaliate with a sharp retort, but Sam cut us off.

"Guys, guys. Can we get back to why we came here in the first place?" Sam held up the newspaper, Dean and I shared a dark look before nodding reluctantly. "The Shoemaker family is sad to announce the sudden death of their beloved husband and father, Steven Shoemaker." Sam read out a section of an article on the front page of the paper.

"Sudden death, huh? What do you think really happened to this guy?" I asked the two boys.

"That's what we're gonna find out." Dean answered as he pulled his keys from the ignition and put them safely in his pocket, I checked I had the correct fake IDs at hand and followed him out the car.

After we had flashed our IDs to the nurse at the reception, we were directed to the room 114 marked _Morgue _, inside there were two desks on the opposite sides of the room, a man was sat at the one at the far room. "Hey." The man greeted us, looking up from the crossword he was trying to complete.

"Hey." Dean greeted.

"Can I help you?" The man greeted, sighing as he set down his pen and moving the crossword out of the way on the desk and looking at the three of us.

"Yeah. We're the uh... med students." I answered, and the man frowned.

"Sorry?" He asked, directing his beady eyes onto me.

"Oh, Doctor-," I stumbled over the name and glanced at the photos on the wall of the morgue technician for inspiration, "Figlavitch didn't tell you?" I asked, making my eyes wide and innocent, feigning the look of a worried student. "We talked to him on the phone. He, uh... we're from Ohio State." I explained quickly, the man nodded slowly, "He's supposed to show us the Shoemaker corpse, it's for our paper." I nodded, trying to be convincing.

"Well, honey, I'm sorry. He's at lunch." The man shrugged with disinterest.

"Oh well he said, uh-."

"Oh, well, you know, it doesn't matter. You don't mind just showing us the body, do you?" Dean took over, sensing my strained efforts to try and persuade him.

"Sorry," The man shook his head, "I can't. Doc will be back in hour, you can wait for him if you want." He offered.

"An hour? Oooh..." Dean made a face and glanced at us uneasily, "We gotta be heading back to Columbus by then."

"Yeah." Sam nodded.

"Uh, look, man, this paper's like, half our grade. So if you don't mind helping us out-." Dean gave his sideways grin, but it dropped when he was cut off.

"Uh, look, man... no." The man mocked, scoffing and looking back down at his crossword again Dean narrows his eyes and forced a chuckle, then he stepped over to the man and I had to pull at his neck collar to drag him back.

"I'm gonna hit him in his face, I swear." Dean mumbled through gritted teeth and I hit him on the arm and gave him a look, meanwhile Sam stepped in front of us so the man wouldn't see and pulled out his wallet. He placed two bills on the man's desk and he greedily snatched up the money and stared at it for a moment before switching his gaze to the three of us.

"Follow me." He smiled and walked away, Sam and I turned to follow but Dean angrily grabbed his brother's arm and swung him around.

"Dude, I earned that money." Dean complained and Sam frowned.

"You won it in a poker game." I scoffed, beside him and he turned to me and nodded.

"Yeah." He looked at me like he'd lost his life savings, I rolled my eyes and walked through the door where the man went, the brothers close behind.

"Now, the newspaper said his daughter found him. She said his eyes were bleeding." Sam asked once we had all gathered around a body covered with a grey sheet on a metal table, the man didn't respond and pulled back the sheet, revealing a middle aged man with blacked out eye sockets and faint black veins under his eyes, reminding me of the remnant occupying Tanith.

"More than that. They practically liquefied." The man grimaced and pointed to the blackened hollow eye sockets.

"Any sign of a struggle? Maybe somebody did it to him?" I asked, but the man shook his head.

"Nope. Besides the daughter, he was all alone." The man answered.

"What's the official cause of death?" Sam asked.

"Ah, Doc's not sure. He's thinking massive stroke, maybe an aneurysm? Something burst up in there, that's for sure." The man's hand wavered over the corpse's brain.

"What do you mean?" I asked, confused.

"Intense cerebral bleeding. This guy had more blood in his skull than anyone I've ever seen." The man smirked, as if he was impressed by how Mr Shoemaker died.

"The eyes and mash; what would cause something like that?" Sam questioned, the man shrugged.

"Capillaries can burst. See a lot of bloodshot eyes with stroke victims." He answered.

"Yeah? You ever see exploding eyeballs?" Dean asked from behind us, pointing to the lack of eyeballs that the corpse had.

"That's a first for me, but hey, I'm not the doctor." The man scoffed.

"Hey, think we could take a look at that police report?" Dean asked.

"You know, for, uh... our paper." I added, smiling.

"I'm not really supposed to show you that." The man hedged, hunching his shoulders and sucking the air in through his teeth. Sam sighed and pulled out his wallet, I glared at the man the whole while he watched the wallet, I knew he was aware I was glaring at him but he didn't meet my eyes as his podgy hand reached forward to take the cash Sam held out.

"You know," Sam said as we were walking down the steps of the hospital, the police report in his hands, "It might not be one of ours, might just be some freak medical thing." He said optimistically.

"How many times in Dad's long and varied career has it actually been a freak medical thing and not some sign of an awful supernatural death?" Dean asked his brother with a sarcastic shake of his head.

"Uh, almost never." The younger brother responded.

"Exactly." He nodded, I saw Sam glare at his brother and I decided to steer the conversation elsewhere.

"Alright, let's go talk to the daughter." I told them and they both hesitated and nodded.

We were surprised to arrive at the Shoemaker household and find the front door was wide open, we walked in smirking and then stopped short: there was a photo of Steven Shoemaker on a grand oak table with candles and flowers splayed on it, in an adjourning room there was a large group of mourners dressed in black. I looked down at myself and self-consciously shrugged my coat off so I was stood there in my tight black tunic and black jeans. At least I wasn't wearing a chequered shirt and old jeans, I cast a look at the boys and pulled an awkward face. "Does anyone else feel under dressed?" I muttered out the corner of my mouth as I smiled at a person passing by. Dean sighed and shoved me forward, directing me through the house, at the end of the building there was a back door leading to a garden. There were younger people dressed in funeral attire – at least they wouldn't silently judge us so obviously.

"Excuse me," Sam tapped a boy who looked to be around my age and he turned looking slightly tipsy holding a glass of champagne, "Do you know where, errr, Donna and Lilly Shoemaker are?" He asked, the boy nodded dully and pointed a wavering hand towards four girls sat a little way away from the crowd. "Thanks." Sam smiled and we went to move away but the boy grabbed my arm and I tensed and turned back to him.

"Hey, uh, my name is-."

"Touch me again and I'll remove those hands from those pathetic wrists." I narrowed my eyes at him and stalked away over to the girls, Sam and Dean hurried to catch up to me.

"Ouch, Steph." Dean smirked and I shrugged.

"What? I don't have time for sleazy, pathetic guys like him." I answered and fell silent as we reached the girls.

"You must be Donna, right?" Dean smiled out the girl who was reportedly Steven's eldest daughter, she had short, dark red hair and a lithe figure.

"Yeah." The girl sniffed and I smiled thinly at her – I _hated _it when people cried.

"Hi, uh – we're really sorry." Sam told her apologetically and I got distracted and looked around at the drunken throng of people my age: normal kids, doing normal things. I looked at the two girls who sat with Donna, they were both blonde with blue eyes. One of them had her hands around Donna's shoulders and the other one was staring hungrily at the boys, her gaze suddenly snapped to me and she glared at me with a jealous fire in her eyes. I heaved a sigh and rolled my eyes: how did my reflection deal with girls like this on a daily basis? I looked back at Donna and Sam and saw that the boys were looking at me in shock.

"Oh! Sorry, not you. I was just... never mind, go on." I smiled, the girl frowned and Sam stared at me for a long moment before continuing.

"As I was saying... I'm Sam, this is Dean and that's Stephanie. We worked with your Dad." Sam greeted and the blonde girl closest to Donna glanced at her friend and then back to us, I saw suspicion in both their eyes.

"You did?" The girl asked and I nodded.

"Yeah. This whole thing, I mean, a stroke." I made a show of looking sad, but Donna's friend didn't look impressed.

"I don't think she really wants to talk about this now." She dismissed me, I crossed my arms and narrowed my eyes at her.

"I'm ok, I'm ok." Donna turned to her friend and gave her a small smile.

"Were there any symptoms: Dizziness? Migraines?" Dean asked.

"No." The watery-eyed girl shook her head.

"That's because it wasn't a stroke." The youngest girl turned and looked at Donna, I recognised the girl as Steven's youngest daughter, Lilly.

"Lilly, don't say that." Donna scolded her little sister.

"What?" Sam looked at Lilly in interest.

"I'm sorry, she's just upset." Donna looked up at us apologetically.

"No, it happened because of me." Lilly shook her head, tears forming in her wide brown eyes.

"Sweetie, it didn't." Donna reassured her younger sister, Sam glanced at me and I sighed and knelt down so I was eye level with the girl.

"Hey Lilly, I know this must be hard. How old are you?" I asked her.

"Eleven." The girl answered in a quiet voice.

"You know, I was eleven when my uncle died. At his funeral I had a bunch of strangers in my house telling me how great he was, when the whole time I was doubting that they even knew my uncle's full name." I told her, the girl nodded once and I smiled kindly at her, "Now, you said your Dad died because of you, why would you say something like that?" I asked.

"Right before he died, I said it." The girl whispered, and I frowned in confusion.

"You said what?" I asked her, moving closer to her.

"Bloody Mary, three times in the bathroom mirror." She explained and then paused and took a deep breath, "She took his eyes, that's what she does." Lilly choked out.

"That's not why Dad died. This isn't your fault." Donna told her sister in a hushed tone.

"I think your sister's right, Lilly. There's no wait could have been Bloody Mary. Your Dad didn't say it, did he?" I asked her.

"No, I don't think so." The eleven year old shook her head sadly.

"That's enough. Stop it." Donna suddenly snapped at me and I stood up, holding my hands up innocently.

"Come on, guys. Let's go." I told the boys and they nodded and we walked back into the house.

"I wanna check out this bathroom before we leave – maybe there's clues as to why Steven died so suddenly." Sam told us and we followed him up the stairs, the bathroom was like most normal bathrooms, a white cabinet sat above the sink with a mirror on the front door, on the white tiled floor there was still traces of dried blood.

"This must be where his body lay." I said, pointing to where the tiles where whiter than others.

"The Bloody Mary legend... Dad ever find any evidence that it was a real thing?" Sam asked his brother as I traced my fingers around the mirror frame.

"Not that I know of." Dean shook his head, stepping into the bathroom and perching on the nearby bath corner.

"I mean, everywhere else all over the country, kids will play Bloody Mary, and as far as we know, nobody

dies from it." Sam continued.

"Maybe everywhere it's just a story, but here it's actually happening." I shrugged and opened the medicine cabinet to reveal a man's toiletries.

"The place where the legend began?" Sam scoffed and I pulled a face as I read the back of a medicine bottle.

"But according to the legend, the person who says B-," Sam glanced at the mirror of the medicine cabinet which was facing him and pushed it shut. "The person who says you know what gets it. But here-."

"Shoemaker gets it instead, yeah." Dean nodded in agreement.

"Right." The younger Winchester replied.

"So, have you guys ever heard of anything like this before?" I asked them.

"Nope, never." Dean responded whilst Sam shook his head.

"Ok, but still: the guy did die right in front of the mirror, and Lilly's right: the way the legend goes – you know who scratches your eyes out." I speculated.

"It's worth checking into." Sam agreed.

"Right, let's go, team." Dean fist pumped with mock enthusiasm and we turned to leave. As we closed the bathroom door behind us a girl was stood there with her arms crossed and a suspicious look on her face.

"What are you doing up here?" She asked us tersely.

"We – we had to go to the bathroom." Dean stuttered and she narrowed her eyes and looked at me.

"You guys and a girl all went into a bathroom at the same time?" She frowned and uncrossed her arms. "Who are you people?" She asked.

"Like we said downstairs, we worked with Donna's Dad." I told her and she glared at me and scoffed.

"Look, _Stephanie_," She glared daggers at me, drawing my name out, "Donna's Dad was a day trader, or something. He worked by himself." She told us, Dean and I glanced eachother and shared panicked looks.

"No, I know, I meant-." Dean stuttered but the girl cut him off.

"And all those weird questions downstairs, what was that? So you tell me what's going on, or I start screaming." She threatened, I looked at her and laughed.

"Yeah? You wouldn't be able to so much as _squeak_." I spat and strode over to hit her, but Sam grabbed my shoulder and hauled my back.

"Stop it." Dean shushed but I ignored him.

"Alright, alright. We think something's happened to Donna's Dad." Sam admitted to the girl.

"Yeah, a stroke." The girl nodded, shooting us an odd look.

"That's not a sign of a typical stroke. We think it might be something else." The tallest boy continued.

"Like what?" The teenager frowned in confusion.

"Honestly? We don't know yet. But we don't want it to happen to anyone else. That's the truth." He answered earnestly.

"So, if you're gonna scream, go right ahead." I smirked at the girl.

"Who are you, cops?" She said after staring at me, Sam looked at Dean and I for a moment, and then back to the blonde.

"Something like that." Dean replied with a smile.

"I'll tell you what, here." Sam rifled in his pockets and pulled out a pen and a small notepad, and then proceeded to scrawl down his phone number. "If you think of anything, you or your friends notice anything strange, out of the ordinary... just give us a call." Sam told her before handing her the paper. We walked past her and I made sure to glare daggers at the girl before we rounded the corner and down the stairs.

"Alright," Dean started as we entered the dark, and almost deserted, library, "Say Bloody Mary really is haunting this town. There's gonna be some some sort of proof – like a local woman who died nasty."

"Yeah, but a legend this widespread it's hard. I mean, there's like fifty different versions of who she actually is. One story says she's a witch, another says she's a mutilated bride – there's a lot more." Sam explained as we walked into the central part of the building, dusty books were littered everywhere and haphazardly stacked on the bookshelves.

"So what are we supposed to be looking for?" I asked, casting my eyes unenthusiastically at the stacks upon stacks of books.

"Well, uh, every version's got a few things in common. It's always a woman named Mary, and she always dies right in front of a mirror. So we've gotta search local newspapers – public records as far back as they go. See if we can find a Mary who fits the bill." The younger Winchester explained, gesturing around the room.

"Well that sounds annoying." Dean murmured.

"More than annoying, that – that sounds like a method of torture." I groaned.

"No, it won't be so bad, as long as we..." We all looked to the computers and Sam trailed off and I sighed: every computer had paper taped over the screen with _Out of Order _written on it. There was a pause and then Sam chuckled, "I take it back. This will be _very _annoying." He grinned, I sighed heavily and rolled my eyes.

"Like I said, torture." I groaned.

It took us three hours before we eventually left the library and were back in the motel room, Sam had crashed out on his bed and Dean and I had decided to just let him catch up on some sleep. Dean and I were working quietly on the table with books splayed out on the table. Sam suddenly gasped awake and I jumped, looking over at Sam. He rubbed his eyes and glared at us, "Why'd you let me fall asleep?" Sam groaned.

"Because you needed it, Sam, you're exhausted." I told him, shooting a concerned glance at him.

"Yeah, yeah." Sam murmured.

"So what did you dream about?" Dean asked.

"Lollipops and candy canes," Sam sighed sarcastically, and then looked over at us, "Did you guys find anything?" He asked.

"Oh, besides a whole new level of frustration?" Dean smiled thinly, Sam sat up and stretched.

"Dean's right, I mean, we've looked at everything: a few local women, a Laura and a Catherine committed suicide in front of a mirror, and a giant mirror fell on a guy called Dave, but uh, no Mary." I explained, running a hand through my long dark hair and slamming the book exasperatedly.

"Maybe we just haven't found it yet." Sam reasoned, but I wasn't so confident.

"We've also been searching for strange deaths in the area, you know... eyeball bleeding, that sort of thing. There's nothing. Whatever's happening here, maybe it just ain't Mary." Dean shrugged, Sam opened his mouth to object, but his phone suddenly started ringing and he answered it.

"Hello?" Sam answered tiredly.

"And they found her on the bathroom floor. And her – her eyes, they were gone." The girl, Charlie, had called Sam and told him the news, we found her on a park bench crying her eyes out, her flirty friend Jill had been found dead this morning.

"We're sorry." Sam told her in a soft voice.

"And she said it." Charlie looked up at us with red, puffy eyes, "I heard her say it, but it couldn't be because of that. I'm insane, right?" She asked, her eyes darting wildly at the three of us.

"No, you're not insane." Dean assured her.

"Oh God, that makes me feel so much worse." She sobbed and I looked away.

"Look. We think something's happening here. Something that can't be explained." I told her, she stopped sobbing and looked at me with bloodshot eyes.

"And we're gonna stop it. But we could use your help." Dean added.

"Err what? Actually I think we, uh, we got it-." I was cut off with Sam elbowing me. Hard.

We were waiting for Charlie to open Jill's window outside her house, "Here she is, finally." I sighed when I felt the air shift above us. The window opened and Sam gave me a boost up into the window, when I was in I turned around and helped Sam up, and then helped Dean. When we were all in Dean threw his black duffel bag to Sam and he set it out on the bed.

"What did you tell Jill's Mum?" I asked Charlie.

"Just that I needed some time alone with Jill's pictures and things," Charlie glanced around Jill's room and hugged herself uneasily, behind us Sam was fiddling with something from the bag and Dean was shutting the curtains, "I hate lying to her." The girl shuddered to herself.

"Well, trust us – this is for the greater good. Hit the lights, Steph." Dean said and I walked over to the switch on the wall and flicked it, the room was instantly plunged into darkness, I stood still and blinked – letting my eyes adjust to the dim.

"What are you guys looking for?" Charlie asked through the black.

"We'll let you know as soon as we find it." Dean's voice answered. To the left of me Sam had switched on a digital camera, the screen showing the room illuminated through night vision.

"Hey, night vision." Sam's voice drifted over to us and I saw his silhouetted hand adjust the screen angle, "Perfect." He said to himself, I suddenly saw Dean's face appear on the screen and he struck a pose.

"Do I look like Paris Hilton?" Dean joked and I giggled, Sam scoffed and walked away with the camera and I saw him open the wardrobe through the dark.

"So I don't get it. I mean... the first victim didn't summon Mary, and the second victim did. How's she choosing them?" I asked.

"Beats me," Dean answered as the sound of a wardrobe door being closed sounded. "I want to know why Jill said it in the first place."

"It was just a joke." Charlie answered.

"Yeah, well, somebody's gonna say it again, it's just a matter of time." I warned her as I stepped in the bathroom, my ring instantly went cold: someone had definitely died here recently. Sam was at the mirror doing something with the camera and I waited in silence for him to finish.

"Hey, Steph?" He called, in the light of the camera I saw his reflection looking at me.

"Yeah?" I asked, stepping over to him.

"In the trunk of the car there's a black light, can you fetch it for me?" He asked.

"Sure." I smiled and stepped quietly into Jill's bedroom, I collided with someone and they screamed loudly in my ears. "Shh!" I shushed Charlie, clamping a hand over her mouth, "Jill's Mum can_not _come up here." I told her, under my hand she was saying something but I had lost interest, I walked over to the curtains and opened one, using one hand to support myself I jumped out. I found the black light in the trunk of the car and walked back over to Jill's bedroom window, using the air to propel myself and reach the window. As I was climbing through I fought down the sudden waves of nostalgia as I remembered the thousands of times I had to sneak in and out of my bedroom window. I pushed passed the curtains and threw the black light to Sam, he caught it and nodded in thanks, he had laid out the bathroom mirror on the bed. I helped Dean peel off the back of the mirror and put it to one side, Sam shone the black light over the exposed back. We walked over to see what Sam was doing and something caught my eye. "There, shine it there again." I pointed to a spot and Sam obliged, the light revealed a hand print on the mirror, Sam moved the light over and another handprint was visible, underneath the print was some lettering.

"Gary Bryman?" Charlie spelled out in confusion.

"You know who that is?" I asked her and she shook her head.

"No."

"So Gary Bryman was an eight year old boy, two years ago he was killed in a hit and run. The car was described as a black Toyota Camry, but nobody got the plates or saw the driver." Sam told us, we were sitting on the bench in the park again, Sam had his phone out and was reading a local newspaper article fom it.

"Oh my God." Charlie gasped, horror taking over the features of her face.

"What?" I asked her.

"Jill drove that car." She spluttered in a hushed whisper, I looked over at Dean and gave him an alarmed glance.

"We need to get back to your friend Donna's house." Dean told her and she nodded, too shocked to speak.

We snuck into the Shoemaker household and ordered Charlie to distract Donna whilst we went upstairs and prised open the mirror in the bathroom where Steven had died, repeating the same process on the mirror. "Linda Shoemaker." I read out the words as Sam shone the light, I looked up at them and nodded.

"Why are you asking me this?" Donna frowned as she looked at the three of us.

"Look, we're sorry, but it's important." Sam tried, Donna stared at him for a moment before speaking.

"Linda's my Mum, ok? She overdosed on sleeping pills, it was an accident and that's that. I think you should leave." The short haired girl pointed to the door.

"Now Donna, just listen-." I put my hand out in an effort to convince her.

"Get out of my house!" She yelled, cutting me off. I winced at the sudden volume and opened my mouth to say something, but Donna was already running up the stairs.

"Oh my God. Do you guys really think her Dad could've killed her Mum?" Charlie asked us with wide eyes.

"Maybe." Dean shrugged.

"I think I should stick around." Charlie said nervously, looking up the stairs where Donna had run up.

"Alright, whatever you do, don't-." Dean warned.

"Believe me, I won't say it." Charlie cut him off and looked at him seriously.

Back in the motel room, Dean had been nominated to look on the computer whilst Sam and I were looking at all the evidence and clues pinned to a bulletin board. "Wait, wait, wait – you're doing a nationwide search?" Sam suddenly turned to his brother.

"Yep. The NCIC, the FBI database – at this point any Mary who died in front of a mirror is good enough for me." Dean nodded, his eyes transfixed on the computer screen.

"But if she's haunting the town, she should have died in the town." Sam reminded him.

"I'm telling you there's nothing local, I've checked." Dean told us.

"But it doesn't add up: the way Mary's choosing her victims, it seems like there's a pattern." I frowned.

"I know," The older Winchester sighed heavily, "I was thinking the same thing."

"With Mr Shoemaker and Jill's hit and run – both of them had secrets where people died." I continued.

"Right. I mean, there's a lot of folklore about mirrors: that they reveal all your lies, all your secrets, that they're a true reflection of your soul, which is why it's bad luck to break them." Sam explained.

"So maybe if you've got a secret, I mean like a really nasty one where someone died, then Mary sees it; and punishes you for it." Dean speculated.

"Whether you're the one that summoned her or not." I realised.

"Yeah, take a look at this," Dean swivelled the screen around and showed us a black and white grainy photograph of a woman lying by a mirror in a puddle of dark liquid, which I assumed was blood. Dean clicked on another window and it showed a picture of a hand print on the mirror behind the dead girl – the same one that we saw on each of the mirror backs. Beneath the hand print are the scrawled letters of 'Tre'.

"Looks like the same hand print." Sam observed, looking closely at the photo.

"Her name was Mary Worthington – an unsolved murder in Fort Wayne, Indiana." Dean said.

"Looks like that's our next stop." I smiled.

"I was on the job for thirty five years, detective for most of that." An ageing man in the final years of his job span before retirement, "Now everybody packs it in with a few loose ends, but the Mary Worthington murder? That one still gets me." The detective paused and sighed.

"What exactly happened?" Dean asked.

"You three said you were reporters?" The detective asked.

"We know Mary was 19, lived by herself. We know she won a few local beauty contests, dreamt of getting out of Indiana, being an actress. And we know the night of March 29th someone broke into her apartment and murdered her, cut out her eyes with a knife." Sam explained, telling the detective everything he had learnt about Mary in the past hour.

"That's right." The detective nodded.

"See sir, when we asked you what happened, we wanted to know what you think happened." I told him, the detective looked at me for a moment before shifting his chair back and opening a drawer on his desk.

"Technically I'm not supposed to have a copy of this," The detective said, pulling out a file and handing it to us, we opened it and were met with the same picture of Mary's murder scene that we found online, "Now that there?" The detective tapped the writing on the mirror, "T – R – E?"

"Yeah." Dean replied.

"I think Mary was trying to spell out the name of her killer." The detective explained.

"Do you know who it was?" Sam asked.

"Not for sure, but there was a local man – a surgeon, Trevor Sampson. And I think he cut her up good." The detective divulged, I looked up from the photo and at the ageing man.

"Now why would he do something like that?" I questioned.

"Her diary mentioned a man that she was seeing. She called him by his initial, 'T'. Well, her last entry: she was gonna tell 'T's wife about their affair." The detective answered.

"Yeah but how do you know it was Sampson who killed her?" Dean looked at the man in interest.

"It's hard to say," The detective stroked his chin, "But the way her eyes were cut out... it was almost professional."

"But you could never prove it?" I piped up.

"No. No prints, no witnesses. He was meticulous." The detective said, as if he was in awe of the murder.

"Is he still alive?" Sam asked.

"Nope." The detective leaned back in his chair and sighed, "If you ask me, Mary spent her last living moments trying to expose this guy's secret. But she never could."

"Where's she buried?" Dean asked.

"She wasn't. She was cremated." The detective told us with a shake of his head.

"What about that mirror?" Dean tapped the mirror in the photograph, "It's not in some evidence lockup somewhere is it?"

"Ah, no. It was returned to Mary's family a long time ago." The detective responded.

"You have the names of her family by any chance?" I asked him and the detective nodded slowly.

Whilst we were driving back into the town Sam had been given the job of phoning Mary's only living sibling and inquiring about the mirror, "Oh really? Ah that's to bad Mr Worthington. I would have paid a lot for that mirror. Okay, well maybe next time. Alright thanks." Sam sighed as he hung up the phone.

"So?" Dean asked, his eyes o the road as he drove.

"So that was Mary's brother, the mirror was in the family for years – until he sold it one week ago to a store called Estate Antiques: a store in Toledo." Sam explained in disappointment.

"So wherever the mirror goes, that's where Mary goes?" I asked and Sam nodded.

"Her spirits definitely tied up with it somehow." He said in agreement.

"Isn't there an old superstition that say mirrors can capture spirits?" Dean spoke up.

"Yeah there is. Yeah, when someone would die in a house people would cover up the mirrors so the ghost wouldn't get trapped." I answered, remembering Anathem Mire: the ghost who had died in the caves beneath my uncle's house.

"So Mary dies in front of a mirror, and it draws in her spirit." Sam hypothesised.

"Yeah, but how could she move through like a hundred different mirrors?" I questioned.

"I don't know, but if the mirror is the source, I say we find it and smash it." Dean said as he turned a corner and passed by the main street of town.

"Yeah, I don't know maybe-," Sam stopped when his phone started ringing, "Hello?" He asked, a panicked voice was on the other end, but I couldn't figure out what was being said, "Charlie?" He asked, leaning forward in his seat.

We had driven straight to Charlie's and found her in the basement shaking in fear and shielding her eyes. "Hello?" She called out when we entered her basement.

"Charlie, what happened?" Sam asked as he ran over to her.

"I saw her." Charlie sobbed out in a strained whisper.

"What? How?" I asked as Dean and I reached her.

"Donna." She breathed out and started crying, I looked at Dean and he shrugged. Rolling my eyes I stripped off my jacket and draped it around her head.

"This'll cover your eyes whilst we take you somewhere safer." I told her and her arms dropped by her sides.

"T-thank you." She whispered and I shrugged.

"It's fine," I told her before turning to Sam and Dean, "Where do we go?" I asked them quietly so Charlie couldn't hear.

"I don't know - anywhere without a reflection?" Sam shrugged and I sighed.

"How about our motel room?" Dean shrugged.

"It'll work. " I nodded and walked back over to Charlie, "Charlie? It's Stephanie. We're gonna take you with us and put you somewhere safe, ok?" I told her in a calm tone and she let out a broken sigh of fear.

"Ok." She whispered.

I was sat on the bed next to Charlie whilst Sam and Dean closed the curtains and put sheets over the mirrors and the TV screen. Whilst Dean was covering the final surface Sam came over and sat on Charlie's over side. "Hey, hey it's ok. Hey, you can open up your eyes Charlie. It's okay, all right?" Sam spoke to her in a calm tone, I reached over and carefully lifted my jacket from over her head. The girl had her head bowed underneath it and looked up slowly at us, I tried to not let it creep me out and sent her a convincing smile. "Now listen. You're gonna stay right here on this bed, and you're not gonna look at glass, or anything else that has a reflection, ok? And as long as you do that, she cannot get you." Sam assured her.

"But I can't keep that up forever," Charlie shook her head fearfully, "I'm gonna die, aren't I?" She asked, her gaze switching over to me.

"No, not anytime soon." I smiled at her again and put a hesitant hand on her shoulder, she suddenly sniffed deeply and I let go of her shoulder and shot up from the bed, shuddering to myself. Dean gave me a look and took my place next to Charlie.

"Alright Charlie, we need to know what happened." Dean said as he settled down next to her.

"We were in the bathroom and Donna said it." Charlie answered in a shaky voice.

"That's not what we're talking about. Something happened, didn't it? In your life: a secret - where someone got hurt. Can you tell us about it?" I asked her as I sat down on a nearby chair next to a covered TV.

"I had this boyfriend. I loved him, but he kinda scared me too, you know?" She looked at me for support and I nodded.

"Yeah, I get that." I grimaced, forcing pictures of Caelan out of my mind.

"Well one night, at his house, we got in this fight. Then I broke up with him, and he got upset, and he said he needed me and he loved me, and he said 'Charlie if you walk out that door, I'm gonna kill myself'," Charlie paused and took a deep breath, tears running from her eyes, "And you know what I said? I said 'Go ahead', And I left. How could I say that? How could I leave him like that? I just...I didn't believe him, you know? I should have." Charlie started shaking again, and I suddenly felt sorry for the girl.

"Hey, you didn't expect him too, Charlie. I'd have walked away too." I told her as I got up from the chair and walked over to her. Her blue eyes bored into mine for the longest time before she replied.

"Really?" She asked.

"Really."

I scowled at the rain outside the window in the back of the car as we drove to the antique store that bought Mary Worthington's mirror. "You know her boyfriend killing himself, that's not really Charlie's fault." I said, glaring at the droplets as they rolled lazily down the window.

"Yeah, but spirits don't exactly see shades of grey, Steph. Charlie had a secret, someone died: that's good enough for Mary." Sam answered, looking back at me in the car.

"Whatever, this bitch deserves what's coming to her. Did you see how scared Charlie was?" I answered.

"Yeah... about that: I've been thinking, it might not be enough to just smash that mirror." Sam stated.

"Why? What do you mean?" Dean asked.

"Well Mary's hard to pin down, right? I mean she moves around from mirror to mirror so who's to say that she's not just gonna keep hiding in them forever? So maybe we should try to pin her down, you know, summon her to her mirror and then smash it." Sam suggested, I looked away from the mirror and frowned at the youngest Winchester.

"Well, how do you know that's going to work?" Dean responded, raising an eyebrow as he looked at Sam.

"I don't." He answered.

"Well, who's gonna summon her?" I asked, leaning forward in my seat.

"I will. She'll come after me." Sam replied in a stony voice.

"What?" I asked in a shocked voice.

"You know what? That's it." Dean growled and suddenly turned the steering wheel and the car veered off the road and into a layby, "This is about Jessica, isn't it?" He demanded as he glared at his younger brother through the dark. Sam stayed silent in his seat, his gaze fixed on something ahead of him, "Well who's gonna summon her?" Dean ranted on angrily.

"Dean, shut up." I told him in a loud, clear voice, "Sam you need to listen: this has to stop - the nightmares and calling her name out in the middle of the night, I'm scared it's gonna kill you." I told him in a quiet voice, Sam's eyes flickered up to the mirror and I saw him looking at me in the mirror. "Now listen to me," I looked at his reflection, "It wasn't your fault, Sam." Sam opened his mouth to reply, but Dean beat him to it.

"If you wanna blame something, then blame the thing that killed her. Or hell, why don't you take a swing at me? I mean I'm the one that dragged you away from her in the first place." Dean told him.

"I don't blame you." Sam looked at his brother through the dark, the sound of the rain hitting the car was deafening.

"Well you shouldn't blame yourself, because there's nothing you could've done." Dean continued, his voice softer than before.

"I could've warned her." Sam shook his head slightly.

"About what? You didn't know what was gonna happen! And besides, all of this isn't a secret, I mean, me and Steph know all about it. It's not gonna work with Mary anyway." Dean scoffed annoyedly at his little brother.

"No, neither of you don't." Sam argued.

"We don't know what?" I asked.

"You two don't know all about it. I haven't told you two everything." Sam responded.

"Sam, what? What are you talking about?" I asked, getting scared of Sam's demeanour.

"Well, it wouldn't be a secret if I told you two, would it?" He answered and then went back to staring out the window. Dean stared at his brother in disbelief before shaking his head stubbornly.

"No. I don't like it. It's not gonna happen, forget it." Dean told him in a firm voice.

"Dean's right, are you crazy?" I asked him, suddenly angry that he would play the sacrificial lamb to a crazy dead bitch.

"Guys, that girl back there is gonna die unless we do something about it. And you know what? Who knows how many people are gonna die after that? Now we're doing this. You both have to let me do this." Sam exclaimed, the car descended into an uneasy silence again, Dean reluctantly reversed the car and we were back on the road again.

We were still silent as we waited for Sam to pick lock the door open, we entered the shop and were met with a room full of antique mirrors. "Well that's just great." Dean sighed as he bought out the photo of Mary's murder scene, "Alright, let's start." He said, we split up and silently picked our way over the trinkets and past the glass vases, I clicked my fingers and flames flared up in my palms, illuminating a warm orange glow around the shop.

"Maybe they've already sold it." I suggested, calling out to the two silhouettes of Sam and Dean. The taller figure fished something out of his pocket and clicked it on, I squinted as a torch suddenly shone on my face, blinding me.

"Ow!" I complained as I staggered out of the way of the light, leaning against a century-old dresser and blinking the weird shapes from my eyes.

"Sorry." Sam muttered.

"Found it." Dean's voice cut through the dark and I stood up and made my way over to him, Sam was already beside him shining his torch on the mirror. Dean held up the picture and I saw the immediate match.

"And you're sure about this?" I asked Sam, he nodded once and handed Dean his torch.

"Bloody Mary. Bloody Mary," Sam paused and looked over at us, Dean and I gave him unsure looks and Sam sighed and hefted a crowbar in his hands, "Bloody Mary."

We waited for about twenty seconds in silence when two pairs of beams moved across the back wall of the shop, I turned and saw the red and blue lights of two police cars. "I'll go check that out," Dean said and looked at Sam, "Stay here, be careful." He ordered his brother, I went to follow Dean but he put a hand on my shoulder to stop me, "Look after him for me." He asked and I nodded once.

"Be careful." I looked at him for a moment before turning back to Sam, his eyes were still on the mirror. I turned and looked at the mirrors, out the corner of my eye I saw something in the mirror. I whipped round and looked at the mirror, but the thing wasn't there any more.

"You won't be able to see Mary, so take this," Sam picked up an iron poker from the side and handed it to me, "And I'll tell you where hit."

"Thanks." I murmured and looked down at the iron poker, I looked back at the main mirror and saw a shape on my right, I turned and Sam looked at me, concerned.

"Steph?" He asked, looking down at me, I raised my hand and snapped my palm out, the air rippled and Sam shot out of the way, I drove the iron poker through the mirror and it smashed, the shards of glass burst outward and I close my eyes against the sharp objects, when I opened them there was just a broken mirror with nothing inside it. Sam scrambled up and rushed over to me, "Steph? Steph! What's wrong?" He asked, pulling pieces of glass from my hair.

"It's fine, she's gone now." I assured him and pointed to a cluster of mirrors a few meters away, "I'm gonna check over there, you stay here." I told him, Sam nodded once and I walked away with the iron poker firmly in my grasp. I stood watching the mirrors closely, but nothing shimmered into view, it was silent inside the shop and the poker was starting to feel heavy in my hands. I heard the sound of Sam gasping for breath and whirled. "Sam?" I asked, trying to fight the fear from my voice. Sam didn't respond, and I wandered back over to where he stood, I gasped when I saw his face: blood was lazily dripping from his tear ducts. "Sam!" I shook his shoulders but h's bloody gaze continued to stare at the mirror, "Son of a bitch." I growled and swung the poker into the mirror, it smashed and Sam gasped for breath and crumpled to the floor. "Sam? Sam! Come on!" I called his name loudly as I knelt beside him, shaking his shoulders lightly.

"Sam!" Dean's voice sounded behind me and then the sound of running footsteps came and he was beside us in moments. "No, no, no. What happened?" He asked as he knelt down.

"I was stood over there and then I looked over and he was... bleeding from his eyes and staring at his reflection, so I smashed the mirror." I explained in hurried words, Dean sighed and looked up at me.

"It's fine, it's fine," Dean sighed and slapped his younger brother lightly. "Sam" Sammy!" He called loudly.

"It's Sam." Sam croaked and opened his eyes and I sighed in relief, I saw a shape in one of the mirrors that I had previously stood next to and walked back over to it, when I reached it the shape had gone, all that remained was my reflection. I stared at the mirror and swore I saw my reflection narrow it's eyes at me. I tilted my head and widened my eyes when the reflection didn't copy movements like it was supposed to.

"Look at you," It said in a sinister voice, "Hiding behind this fake name, this fake life," The reflection cocked it's head and glared, "Darquesse," It smirked and blood began to drip from it's eyes, I reached up and dabbed at my cheek, gasping when I felt the warm liquid under my fingers. A pain blossomed in my forehead and the breath hitched in my throat, "How many families have you torn apart?" It asked, "How many loved ones have you destroyed?" It smiled and the pain intensified across my head, I wanted to scream and alert Dean, but my lungs were empty and on fire. "How long until either Sam or Dean die because of you, Darquesse? You're an abomination." The reflection leant forward and the blood continually flowed down her and my face, I thought my head was going to burst. A crowbar suddenly smashed through my reflection and it smashed, the glass cascaded down the frame and pooled onto the ground as my knees buckled.

"Steph! Stephanie!" My eyes found Dean's face looking down at me, his dark eyes brimmed with concern, "Come on, come on. Steph!" Dean shook me by the shoulders and I coughed as the pain slowly faded away.

"I'm ok, I'm ok. Get Sam." I told him as he helped me to my feet, I swayed a little and gripped the table and leant heavily against it. Dean came into view supporting Sam with his brother's arm around his neck.

"Uhhh..." Dean trailed off when he saw how I could barely stand, let alone walk.

"Keep going, I'll be following." I grimaced and pushed myself from the table, Dean nodded and he set off towards the shop exit, practically dragging Sam. I stagered two steps before I stopped and waited for the room to stop spinning. The sound of glass crunching made me turn around and I was met with the sight of Mary Worthington, crawling out the mirror. "Uhh, Dean." I called out weakly.

"What?" He asked from behind me and I heard him curse, Mary advanced and I backed away unsteadily, colliding with something and looking back to see Dean.

"Any ideas?" I asked and he shook his head. I raised my hands and feebly snapped my palms out, the air rippled and Mary staggered back a few steps, but that was pretty much it. "Oh for God's sake." I groaned and clicked my fingers, flames grew in my palms and I threw them at the advancing corpse, she dissipated and reappeared, a sinister gleam in her eye.

"Anything else?" Dean asked and I shrugged.

"Just one." I murmured as I grabbed the shadows from around the room, absorbing Mary's death and sharpened them, firing sharpened shadows at the corpse, they whipped and tore at Mary and she screamed, but then she grabbed hold of one and snapped it and it faded into smoke. "Yeah, plan B - run." I told Dean and we turned and started towards the exit again. We made three steps before we all cried out and fell to the floor, I felt blood trickling down my face and the searing pain in my head behind my eyes. Mary had a small smile on her face as she advanced towards us, I wanted to scream and thrash but the pain was too great, increasing at every step Mary took towards us.

"I got an idea." Dean huffed out and I nodded.

"Yeah? Go ahead!" I replied, Dean reached up and grabbed a mirror and held it out to Mary. The woman stopped walking and looked deep into the mirror, hopefully she was getting a taste of her own medicine, her face contorted as blood dripped down her face. She melted down into a pile of blood and I gasped as the pain receded, Dean groaned and threw the mirror down, where it smashed terrificly on the floor. I looked over at Dean and coughed, Sam had long since passed out.

"Hey Steph?" He said and I looked up at him.

"Yeah?" I answered, exhausted.

"This has got to be like, what? Six hundred years of bad luck?" Dean joked weakly and I managed a grin.

Sam was still asleep in the front of the car as we pulled up in front of Charlie's house, she had gasped when she saw our bloodied faces and hooded eyes, and it had taken the whole journey to try and convince the girl that we were alright. "So this is really over?" Charlie asked for the hundredth time, I looked over to her and nodded.

"Yeah, it's over." I reassured her.

"Thank you." She smiled and reached forward to shake Dean's hand, then she turned and surprised me by enveloping me in a hug, I stayed frozen and she chuckled lightly in my ear. "If you don't hug me back this id gonna get really awkward really fast."

"Yeah, you got my hands pinned down." I replied and Dean chuckled from the front.

"Oh." She said and released me and I nodded.

"Yeah..." I smiled, as an after thought I leant forward and shook Sam awake gently, "Hey, sleepyhead!" I shouted into his ear and he jerked awake.

"Wha?" He answered groggily, rubbing his eyes.

"Time for farewells, Sammy." Dean said and he looked back at Charlie.

"Oh, bye." Sam waved to the girl tiredly and she smiled.

"Bye guys." She grinned and got out the car and began walking up the path to her house.

"Charlie!" Sam called out the open window and the girl turned and looked over to him, "Your boyfriend's death... you really should try to forgive yourself. No matter what you did, you probably couldn't have stopped it. Sometimes bad things just happen." Sam advised, Charlie smiled warmly in return and then turned and walked into the house. Dean reached over and hit Sam lightly on the shoulder.

"That's good advice, Sammy." Dean smirked at his brother, Sam scoffed and rolled his eyes as we drove away. I stared out the window of the town as we drove out of it and then remembered something.

"Hey Sam!" I asked and he looked around.

"Yeah?"

"Now that this is all over, I want you to tell Dean and I what that secret is." I told him.

"Well, that's a, uh, that's an interesting question, Stephanie, seeing as you received the same treatment from Mary as I did. You must also have a secret you've been keeping from us." Sam countered, his eyes gazing at me challengingly as he eyed me in the rear view mirror.

"Ah, a secret for a secret, huh?" I asked and Sam nodded.

"Right, ok." I nodded, "Back in my world, there was a, uh, a prophecy, of sorts... It showed me becoming someone who ended all life as we know it." I explained in a flurry of words.

"Wait... What?" Dean asked after a moment of silence, I took a deep breath and started again.

"In my reality, I was set to become the person who inevitably ended all life as we know it. She was... all powerful, evil, malicious. But now I'm here I don't think she's there anymore." I told them, Sam looked behind him and gazed at me.

"Where is she now?" He asked, surprisingly calm.

"She's always been there in my head, locked away in my mind securely." I assured them.

"You're sure?" Dean asked.

"No," I sighed, "But it's all I have at the moment, so I'm gonna go with the assumption that this isn't her reality to destroy." I admitted.

"Well, ok... But if you feel that you're gonna... turn evil any time. You tell us." Dean told me firmly.

"Ok." I smiled and then looked at Sam, "Your turn." I told him.

"Look, I just think that there are some things that I need to keep to myself." Sam informed us, a guarded look in his eyes, I was silent for all of two seconds.

"What!" I exploded, "Sam, do you know how long I had that secret to myself before I told my mentor slash best friend?" I screamed, but Sam wasn't listening, he was looking at something out the window.

"Leave it, Steph." Dean told me and I sighed and shrugged my coat off, using it as a blanket I drifted off in the back seat, welcoming the sleep that overtook me.

**Author's Note: Thank you all so much for your reviews! I'll update the next chapter when I get, hmm... 25 reviews? I really didn't realise how much time I needed for these chapters, please tell me whether it was worthwhile or not in your reviews below.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Author's Note: Thank you all for your reviews! ****I know the last part of that chapter was so rushed, but complications occurred and I lost the final thousand words, let's just say it didn't bode well with me.**

Winchester and Cain

Chapter 6 – Skin

_Valkyrie's P.O.V_

I sighed in relief when Dean pulled the car up outside a petrol station, I got out the car and stretched gratefully. Dean and Sam got out the car also and we leant against the large bonnet of Dean's car. "Alright, I figure we'd hit Tucumcari by lunch, the head south – hit Brisbee by midnight." Dean said, I nodded in agreement: it was a good driving strategy, sometimes being in that car for hours on end was tiresome. Sam didn't respond, he just stared at the stone chips on the concrete ground, I frowned at him in worry: he had been silent since the entire car journey. It was unnerving. "Sam wears woman's underwear." Dean piped up, he had been getting more and more irritated by his brother's silence.

"I've been listening, I'm just... busy." Sam looked up and peeked at what he was doing o his phone, he was checking his emails, scrolling down through them.

"Busy doin' what?" Dean asked, squinting at his brother through the bright sunlight.

"Reading e-mails." He answered truthfully, Dean got up from the bonnet and walked over to the petrol pump, proceeding to fill up his car.

"E-mails from who? " I asked him, Sam looked up at me.

"From my friends at Stanford." He answered, I nodded slowly.

"You're kidding," Dean scoffed as he put the pump back in it's holster, "You still keep in touch with your college buddies?" He asked.

"Why not?" He asked.

"Well, what exactly do you say to them?" I asked him, "You know, where you've been, I mean – you can't exactly tell them what you've been doing for the past few weeks." I continued.

"Well I tell them I'm on a road trip with my big brother and a friend, I tell them I needed some time off after Jess." He told me, and I softened.

"Oh." I murmured.

"So, you lie to them?" Dean piped up.

"No, I just don't tell them... everything." Sam trailed off and looked away from his brother's gaze.

"Yeah, hate to break it to you Sam, but that's called lying. I mean, hey, I get it: telling the truth is far worse." I told him with a glare.

"You're just saying that because you're still sore that you told us that you used to be a world-killer and I didn't cough up my secret. Anyway what am I supposed to do, just cut everybody out of my life?" He asked, Dean wandered back over to us whilst my eyes narrowed into slits at the taller Winchester, Dean shrugged and Sam's eyes widened, "You're serious?" He spluttered.

"Look, it sucks, but in a job like this, you can't get close to people. Period." Dean answered in a hard tone and I nodded in agreement.

"He's right, you know. Even in my old world – I barely had time for my family, let alone friends." I told him.

"You're both kind of anti-social, you know that?" Sam responded, Dean and I exchanged a look and shrugged simultaneously.

"Yeah, whatever." Dean muttered, but Sam wasn't paying attention to us, his gaze was zeroed in on his phone again.

"God..." The younger Winchester murmured, and I looked over to him.

"What?" I asked.

"In this e-mail from this girl, Rebecca Warren, one of those friends of mine." He explained.

"Is she how?" Dean piped up, but Sam and I ignored him.

"I went to school with her and her brother, Zach. She says Zach's been charged with murder, he's been arrested for killing his girlfriend. Rebecca says he didn't do it, but it sounds like the cops have a pretty good case." He continued.

"Dude, what kinda people are you hanging out with?" Dean asked in amazement and I edged a smile.

"No, guys. I know Zach – he's no killer." Sam denied.

"Well, maybe you know Zach as well as he knows you." I quipped, Sam whipped around and narrowed his eyes at me, but I gazed evenly back at him.

"They're in St. Louis, we're going." He said, Dean chuckled, much to my surprise.

"Look, sorry 'bout your buddy, ok? But this does not sound like our problem." Dean hedged, Sam looked up at his brother and shook his head.

"It is our problem. They're my friends." Sam said in a stubborn tone.

"St Louis is four hundred miles behind us, Sam." Dean argued, Sam bored his eyes into his brothers and Dean sighed and walked over to the car.

"Wait, you can't be serious?" I groaned.

"Get in the car, Steph." Dean ordered, I rolled my eyes and slunk into the backseat, "Aren't we gonna pay for the petrol?" I asked as we drove away.

"With what money?" Dean asked, I shrugged and stared out the window at the lack of scenery. Driving was dull. 

It took us the rest of the day, but we eventually pulled up in front of a white typically American looking house, a girl with white-blonde hair with light brown eyes answered the door, she broke into a huge grin when she saw Sam. "Oh my God, Sam!" She exclaimed in a cheery tone.

"Well, if it isn't little Becky." Sam responded, smiling down at the girl.

"You know what you can do with that little Becky crap." She grinned wryly at Sam before enveloping him in a hug.

"I got your e-mail." Sam said, his tone going deeper with an apologetic tone, they stepped out of the hug and she nodded slowly.

"I didn't think you would come here." She shrugged and gave a sad smile, Dean sudenly stepped forward and held out his hand.

"Dean. Older brother." He introduced himself, giving a sideways smirk and a flirty gleam in his eyes. I rolled my eyes at Sam and he shrugged: like it was normal for his brother to do this.

"Hi." Rebecca said as she shook his hand.

"Hi." Dean gave her a wide smile, showing pearly teeth.

"And who's this?" Rebecca said, looking around Dean and at me.

"I'm Stephanie." I gave her a small smile and she returned it.

"Well, hi." She said and my smile grew wider.

"Hey." I returned.

"Well, now that's out the way, we're here to help. Whatever we can do." Sam explained as Rebecca turned back to him.

"Come in." She held the door wide open and we walked through to the living room.

"Nice place." Dean commented as he looked around the room.

"It's my parents'. I was just crashing here for the long weekend when everything happened. I decided to take the semester off. I'm gonna stay until Zach's free." She explained.

"Where are your parents?" I asked.

"They live in Paris for half the year, so they're on their way home now for the trial..." She trailed off and looked down at the floor, she cleared her throat and walked into another room, "Do you guys want a beer or something?" She called from the other room. Dean chuckled and gave a smile.

"Hey-."

"No thanks." Sam cut him off, Dean hit him on the shoulder and I sighed.

"So," I said as Rebecca walked back into the living room, "Can you tell us what happened?" I asked, she pulled a face as she sat down on a sofa.

"Well, um, Zach came hime, and he found Emily tied to a chair. She was beaten up bloody, and she wasn't breathing," She broke off and took a deep breath, looking back up at us with tears in her eyes. "So, he called 911 and the police – they showed up, and they arrested him. But, the thing is, the only way that Zach could've killed Emily is if he was in two places at the same time. The police – they have a video, it's from the security tape from across the street. It shows Zach coming home at 10:30, now, Emily was killed just after that. But I swear, he was here with me, having a few beers until at least after midnight." Rebecca explained as a few tears ran down her cheeks.

"You know, maybe we could see the crime scene – Zach's house." Sam said, laying a hand on Rebecca's shoulder.

"We could." I nodded as she looked up at us.

"Why? I mean, what could you do?" She asked, doubt clouding her teary eyes.

"Well, me, not much. But Dean and Stephanie? They're both cops." Sam replied, and Dean chuckled next to me.

"We're detectives, actually." He corrected.

"Really?" She asked, looking at Dean and I in disbelief, I nodded convincingly at her, "Where?" She asked.

"Well, I recently transferred from Dublin, Ireland to join Dean in," I paused and edged a smile, "Let me see if I can get this right." I lied with a smile, trying to remember a state that we'd been to recently.

"3, 2, 1 and you lose, Steph," Dean stepped in, sensing my discomfort, and looked at a very confused Rebecca, "It's a game we play to try and get her to remember the states, we're from Brisbee, Arizone. Although we're both off-duty now, obviously." He explained smoothly, Rebecca nodded in understanding and gave a kind smile.

"You guys, it's so nice to offer, but I just – I don't know." Rebecca hedged, I shot a glance at Sam and gave him a silent signal for help.

"Bec, look, I know Zach didn't do this. Now, we have to find a way to prove he's innocent." Sam gave the girl a wide eyed, pleading stare and Rebecca softened.

"Ok, I'm gonna go get the keys." She nodded and walked out of the room, my smile disappeared when she was out of earshot.

"Oh my God that was close," I sighed in relief and looked at Dean, "Thanks for the hand in, Dean. I was completely frzozen on a stupid name for a state." I smiled and Dean shrugged.

"Yeah, well, I know from the start you've never been able to wrap that head of yours around the places, Sweet-cheeks." He grinned mischievously and I fought down the urge to hit him. I failed. "Ow!" He moaned, rubbing his arm with a forlorn look on his face. Sam chuckled and Dean silenced him with a death glare, "What are you laughing at, huh? Some friend picker you are, a real straight shooter." He seethed, Sam rolled his eyes at Dean's comment.

"Look, Zach and Becky need our help." He tried once again to convince us but I shook my head sadly at the taller Winchester.

"Dean's got a point, I don't think this is our kind of problem." I told Sam gently, but Sam narrowed his eyes as he looked down at me, with me being so tall for my age it was an odd feeling.

"Two places at once? We've looked into less." He argued, I sighed, defeated and looked at a family picture of Rebecca and another man who looked to be a little younger than Sam: Zach, I had no doubt.

"Right, are you guys ready to go?" Rebecca asked as she walked back into the living room, her keys in her right hand.

"Err, yeah. We'll follow behind you." Dean smiled at her and she nodded happily.

"Great." She grinned. 

"You sure this is ok?" Rebecca asked as we we met her outside Zach's house, she glanced at the house uneasily and then looked back at Dean and I.

"Yeah, we're officers of the law." Dean gave Rebecca and assuring smile. We walked up into the house in silence and opened the door, ducking under the police tape that lined the house, blood was smeared on the walls, like someone had tried to paint over the house.

"Bec, you wanna stay outside?" Sam called to the girl, I looked back and saw Rebecca standing outside on the porch, biting her lip and fiddling with her hands, she caught my eyes and a sudden look of determination spread across her face and she shook her head.

"No, I wanna help." She answered and ducked under the police tape, her eyes darted around and looked at the blood coloured on the walls.

"Tell us what else the police said." I asked her, her gaze snapped back to mine and she swallowed a lump in her throat before replying.

"Well, there's no sign of a break-in. They said that Emily let her attacker in. The lawyers – they're already talking about plea bargain," She suddenly sobbed uncontrollably, "Oh, God..." She murmured, trailing off as she looked around the red splattered room.

"Look, Bec, if Zach didn't do this, it means someone else did. Any idea who?" Sam asked her, stepping forward and looking at her sympathetically, Rebecca shook her head but then bit her lip.

"Um, there was something, about a week before. Somebody broke in here and stole some clothes – Zach's clothes, the police: they don't think it's anything. I mean, we're not that far from downtown, sometimes people get robbed," She paused and the sound of a dog barking angrily filled the silence, Dean and I walked to the front door and looked out, the neighbour's dog was leaning up on the fence snarling at us, rage in it's brown eyes. "You know, that used to be the sweetest dog." Rebecca told us as she came up beside us and stood with us watching the angry animal.

"What happened?" I asked, looking at the blonde girl.

"He just changed." Rebecca shrugged.

"Do you remember when he changed?" Dean asked her, glancing at me.

"I guess around the time of the murder." She answered, my eyes widened and I raised my eyebrows at Dean. We left Rebecca standing in the doorway and saw Sam looking at the photo's scattered about on the mantelpiece, one had fallen on and broken, I crouched down and picked it up carefully, placing it on the shelf next to the others.

"So, the neighbour's dog went psycho right around the time Zach's girlfriend was killed." Dean told Sam as I positioned the photo carefully.

"Animals can have a sharp sense of the paranormal." Sam murmured, his mind clearly on something else.

"Yeah, maybe he saw something." I nodded.

"So you guys think maybe this is our kind of problem?" Sam asked us, turning away from the photo he was looking at.

"No, probably not." Dean shook his head, Sam looked away, crestfallen, "But we should look at the security tape." Dean added.

"You know, just to make sure." I added, Sam looked back at us, I saw him trying to fight a smile edging the corners of his mouth.

"Yeah." He agreed, the smile winning and springing up on his face.

"Yeah," Dean echoed, quietening down when Rebecca approached us, "So, the tape. The security foortage – you think maybe your lawyers could get their hands on it, 'cause neither me or Stephanie have that kind of jurisdiction." Dean asked her.

"I've already got it," Rebecca said hesitantly, glancing at Dean and I uneasily, "I didn't wanna say something in front of the cops." She admitted, Dean chuckled and I grinned, "I stole it off the lawyer's desk. I just had to see for myself." She explained.

"Sounds fair." I nodded and looked at the two boys, "So, we ready to leave?" I asked them, they nodded and we left the bloody scene in silence, I shot the photos one last glance and sighed inwardly.

"Here he comes." Rebecca said, pointing at the screen we were all watching, we were watching the security tape on Sam's laptop in Rebecca's living room, the tape showed us Zach entering his house.

"22.04, that's just after ten. You said the time of death was about 10.30." Dean said, noticing the time stamp on the corner of the screen.

"Our lawyer's hired some kind of video expert. He says the tape's authentic, it wasn't tampered with." Rebecca answered with a sad sigh.

"Hey, Bec?" Sam looked away from the screen and at the girl, "Can we take those beers now?" He asked, I frowned: Sam was trying to get her to leave the room, and it worked – Rebecca nodded and got up and walked towards the door, "Hey." Sam called over to her and she turned, "Maybe some sandwhiches, too?" He asked, and she scoffed.

"What do you think this is, Hooters?" She smirked and then left the room.

"What's Hooters?" I asked in confusion.

"Never mind, Steph," Dean chuckled and then looked at his brother, "What is it?" He asked. Sam tapped the mousepad so the video paused, then he rewound it back forty-two seconds.

"Check this out." Sam told us, we watched the screen as Sam pressed play, one of the frames showed Zach looking up at the camera, his eyes were flashing silver, Sam pressed pause and the screen froze on Zach's wicked smile and fiendish silver stare.

"Well, maybe it's just a camera flare." Dean shrugged, but looking at how... corrupt and evil Zach looked made me do a double-take.

"I don't think so, it's not the usual camera flare you'd expect to see." I said, looking up from the screen and at Dean.

"You know, a lot of cultures believe that a photograph can catch a glimpse of the soul." Sam stated and we both looked at him: how does he know these things?

"Right." Dean scoffed and rolled his eyes.

"Remember that dog that was freaking out? Maybe he saw this thing. Maybe this is some kind of dark double of Zach's, something that looks like him but isn't him." Sam looked up at us, silently hoping one of us would take his side.

"What, like a doppelgänger?" I asked, looking back at the screen again.

"Yeah, it'd sure explain how he was in two places at once." Sam shrugged.

I was glaring at the back of Sam's head as we drove to Zach's house, it was 5.30 and the sun hadn't even risen yet, we had researched and gone to bed less than two hours ago, only to be woken up by Sam. "Alright, so what are we doing here at 5.30 in the morning?" Dean asked as we pulled up slowly behind the house so we wouldn't be spotted by suspicious neighbours.

"I realised something: the videotape shows the killer going in, but not coming out." Sam answered as we got out of the car, I clicked my fingers and conjured a flame, letting it sit in the base of my palm. I looked over at Dean and saw he was staring at the fire with awe flickering in his eyes.

"Hey, Sammy?" I asked as we stood by the car watching the sky lighten up as the sun slowly rose.

"Yeah?"

"You still didn't explain why we were doing this after we only went to bed at 4." I gave him a tight smile.

"Well Steph, I thought that if we did this at this time then less people would be around to see us snooping around a crime scene that we're not allowed to be around." Sam told me, giving me a pointed look.

"Oh." I replied.

"Yeah."

"Anyway," Dean broke the silence by clearing his throat, "He came out the back door?" He asked his brother, leaning against the car.

"Right. So, there should be a trail to follow – a trail the police would never pursue." Sam nodded.

"Because they think the killer never left," I cognized, putting the pieces together, and they caught your friend Zach inside..." I trailed off as the sun burst through the skyline, illuminating everything with a soft warm shade reminding me of the marigolds that my Mum grew at home. "I still don't know what we're doing here at 5.30 in the morning." I complained, letting the flame in my hand die out, Dean chuckled and we walked over to the house, searching around the back of the house in silence.

"Blood." I heard Sam say, I turned and saw he was looking at a nearby telephone pole, in the light I could see a dark crimson staining the metal.

"Somebody must have come this way." I said, giving Sam a grim look.

"Yeah, but the trail ends, I don't see anything over here." Dean spoke up, I opened my mouth to reply but was cut off by a loud, wailing siren. An ambulance rushed past us with it's lights flashing and it's siren blaring out the distress call, it rounded the corner and was lost from sight, the sound could still be heard in the distance. I looked at Dean and we exchanged a look. Then, at an unknown signal, the three of us broke into action and ran back to the car, speeding away after the vehicle.

We found the ambulance a few streets away, several police cars had joined in on the scene, the flashing of the lights may have looked pretty, but the several policemen emerging from the house with a man with a bloodied face ruined it spectacularly. "What happened?" Dean asked a nearby witness.

"He tried to kill his wife. Tied her up and beat her." The witness told us, shaking her head sadly.

"Really?" Sam asked her, she turned around and looked at the three of us in turn.

"I used to see him going to work in the morning," The woman sighed as the police put the man in the car, "He'd wave, say hello. He seemed like such a nice guy." She turned back around, Sam and I exchanged a glance as the police cars drove off.

We waited until the ambulance and the bystanders had cleared away, then we broke into the house and looked around it, Dean had taken up the job of questioning the patrol man, whilst Sam and I searched the inside and the outside of the house. I sighed after finding nothing of use inside the home, I spent five minutes staring at the bloody bedroom and broken parts of furniture that were thrown around it. I met Sam outside and saw the same look of disappointment on his face that matched mine, "Find anything?" I asked as I neared him, the younger brother shook his head.

"No, nothing, how about the inside?" Sam responded.

"Just a bloody crime scene, same as the last." I answered with a sigh.

"Hey." Sam and I turned and saw Dean walking over, "Remember when me and Steph said that this wasn't our kind of problem?" Dean asked and Sam and I nodded simultaneously.

"Yeah." We answered in unison.

"Definitely our kind of problem." Dean nodded.

"What'd you find out?" I asked him.

"Well, I just talked to the patrol man who was first on the scene, heard this guy, Alex's story: apparently the dude was driving home from a business trip when his wife was attacked." Dean relayed the story to us.

"So, he was in two places at once." Sam pointed out.

"Exactly, then he sees himself in the house – police think he's a nutjob." Dean nodded.

"Two doubles attacking loved ones in exactly the same way." I murmured, staring at the light glinting off the bonnet of Dean's car.

"Could be the same thing doing it, too." Dean replied, my gaze switched back to the boys and I saw Sam looking off in the distance in deep thought, then he looked at Dean.

"Shapeshifter?" He guessed, Dean shrugged and I tilted my head, "Something that can make itself look like anyone?" He supplied.

"Every culture in the world has a shapeshifter lore. You know: legends of creatures who can transform themselves into animals or other men," Dean explained and then looked at me, "Do they exist in, uh, in your world?" He asked and I shook my head.

"I once heard that it was an adept power, but it's not known to exist as a monster." I shook my head and Dean sighed.

"Ok, so what are we looking at? Skinwalker, werewolf?" Sam asked.

"Well, we've got two attacks within blocks of eachother. I'm guessing we've got a shapeshifter prowling the neighbourhood." Dean looked up and down the street.

"Well, yeah, but let me ask you this: in all this shapeshifter lore, can any of them fly?" I asked, raising an eyebrow at the older Winchester.

"Not that I know of." Dean shook his head but gave me a smile.

"I picked up a trail here, someone ran out the back of this building and headed out off this way." Sam said, pointing off out behind the house.

"Just like your friends house." I pointed out, Sam nodded.

"Yeah, and just like at Zach's house, the trail suddenly ends. I mean, whatever it is just disappeared." The younger brother replied.

"Well, there's another way to go: down." Dean answered, we looked down and saw the manhole closest to Sam's feet, I looked up and sagged.

"You're freaking kidding me." I muttered but I didn't gain a reply.

We prised open the manhole and descended down an old, rusting ladder that creaked as we went down it, halfway down the long ladder I decided to lean back and close my eyes. "Steph, you ok?" I heard Dean's voice drift down to me, I nodded and let out a breath and let go of the ladder. "Steph you're going to fall if you do that." He told me, I opened my eyes and nodded again.

"Why do you think I'm doing this?" I asked him with a smile, confusion crossed his features and above him Sam looked over his brother's shoulder.

"What's going on?" Sam asked, but I was already leaning further back, my hands splayed out and I smiled when I found the spaces where the air connected and moved.

"Stephanie!" Dean shouted my voice as I stepped off the ladder and plummeted down into the darkness, I opened my eyes and smiled at the feeling of the speed I was falling at. At the last moment I moved my hands and my descent slowed, my feet touched down gently on a metal grated floor, my smile widened into a grin as I looked up and saw how far I had fallen.

"Steph!" I heard Sam's voice and squinted my eyes through the dark, I clicked my fingers and a flame suddenly illuminated the dark underground.

"I'm here!" I called back up to the boys, I heard Dean's angry mutters and rolled my eyes. It didn't take long for the boys to join me on the gloomy passageway, Dean looked mostly annoyed whilst Sam was looking at me with awe.

"How did you do that?" He asked as soon as his feet hit the metal grating.

"I channelled the air to slow my fall so I wouldn't go splat." I answered lazily, looking at the dancing flame that was cupped in my palm.

"Yeah well, next time can you give a little warning before you jump off a ladder without a word?" Dean scolded me, I nodded and smiled.

"Sorry." I apologised half-heartedly, Dean grunted in response and clicked on a torch that Sam handed him.

"I bet this runs right by Zach's house, too. The shapeshifter could be using the sewer system to get around." Sam murmured, shining his torch around the passageway.

"I think you're right, look at this." Sam and I turned to Dean and he pointed to something lying in the corner, I moved my hand and concentrated: the flame in my hand grew bigger and Sam's torch beam shone down, a pile of slimy, pale and bloodied flesh was discarded on the ground, my stomach did a flip and I blanched.

"Is this from his victims?" I asked in a quiet, hollow voice. Dean made a face and took out his hunting knife and used it to hold up some of the skin, I reeled back and bumped into Sam, he steadied my shoulders and gave Dean a look.

"You know, I just had a sick thought," Dean started.

"You think?" I scoffed, glancing at the skin and fearfully.

"What if when the shapeshifter changes shape – maybe it sheds." He suggested.

"You're right. That is sick." Sam nodded, Dean rolled his eyes and threw the bloody pile on the ground, it squelched and quivered and I looked away quickly.

I stood a little way away whilst Dean and Sam opened the trunk of the car and started sorting through their weapons, "Well, one thing I learned from Dad – is that no matter what kind of shapeshifter it is, there's one sure way to kill it." Dean said as he held up a pistol and some bullets.

"Silver bullets to the heart." Sam nodded to his brother, I walked over and Dean looked over to me.

"You ok?" He asked, his tone full of concern.

"Yep." I muttered and grimaced, "It's just... things like that are just. Awful." I told him, Dean nodded slowly and held out the pistol to me.

"We've got three in the set, might as well put them to good use." He shrugged, I grinned a little and held the gun in the two handed grip Skulduggery had taught me, Dean turned to Sam and raised his eyebrows, "Someone knows their way around a gun I take it." He observed, pointing to the gun, I looked down at the firearm and shrugged.

"What, me?" I asked innocently, skilfully breaking it open to reveal the empty bullet chambers and holding it back to the older Winchester, he took it and grinned, loading six silver bullets into the chamber and handing it back to me. Sam's phone started ringing and he answered it quickly after checking the caller ID.

"This is Sam." He answered. A girl's voice sounded out through the speaker, but I couldn't make out the words, "We're near Zach's, we're just checking some things out." Sam answered, there was a brief pause and Sam sent us a panicked look. "What are you talking about?" He faked a chuckled, I sent a wide-eyed look to Dean and then we turned back to Sam, his fake smile was no longer on his face, "Why would you do that?" He asked, the worry spreading through his features like a wildfire. "Bec-." He tried but was cut off abruptly, the voice on the other end of the phone getting angrier and angrier, "We're trying to help." Sam tried to explain weakly, but he was cut off once again. "Bec, I'm sorry, but -." He sighed as the person on the other side of the phone hung up rudely. Sam sighed and looked down at his phone, a faint look of disappointment clouding his expression. Dean looked at me and I shrugged,

"You know, I hate to say it," Dean walked over to his brother, "But that's exactly what Steph and I were talking about earlier. You lie to your friends because if they knew the real you: they'd be freaked. It's just – it'd be easier if-."

"If I was like you and Stephanie." Sam cut him off with a sigh, Dean shrugged and I rolled my eyes at him and stepped forward.

"Hey," I tapped Sam's shoulder lightly and he turned and looked down at me, "I hate to say it but, like it or not – we're not like other people. I mean, at least your Dad knows about what you do, my parents? They have no idea." I told him, Sam raised his eyebrows.

"Then how did you manage to do all your detective work without your parents knowing?" Sam asked.

"I, uh, I did a spell that made my reflection come to life to take my place whilst I wasn't about – it's a long story." I smiled a small smile whilst Sam looked completely confused, "So anyway, what you do with your brother: look at all the things you've done for helping people." I tried to convince him.

"And," Dean came over and held up a gun in his hand, "This whole gig – it ain't without its perks." He grinned and handed the gun to Sam, he shook his head but I saw a smile etched onto the younger brother's face, when we were all set we closed the trunk of the car and walked back to the manhole.

The sewer was definitely the worst place we had been in so far, it was dark, gloomy and stank of waste. Sam and Dean armed themselves with torches in one hand and guns in the other, I had a flame in one hand and was holding my gun in the other. We walked along the sewer quietly, I was constantly looking down in case we tripped on anything undesirable. "I think we're close to its lair." Dean broke the cheerless silence.

"Yeah? Why do you say that?" Sam asked, I looked back at the older brother and saw he was giving a nonchalant shrug.

"Because there's another puke-incducing pile next to your face." Dean pointed with his torch I shut my eyes, refusing to look at yet another pile of flesh and guts.

"Oh God!" Sam's disgusted voice rang through the darkness and the air shifted beneath my palms, a hand fell on my shoulder and I turned around to see Dean.

"Come on, no time for daydreaming, Steph." He smiled and steered me down the passageway and round a corner. Sam was waiting for us with his torch beam falling on a pile of dirty clothes that had been abandoned in the dark.

"Looks like it's lived here for a while." I observed, standing back as Dean walked over to look at the clothes Sam had found.

"Who knows how many murders he's gotten away with?" Sam asked rhetorically as he turned around, a look of alarm spread across his face and I frowned, "Steph!" He called, pointing behind me. I whirled and turned to see a man standing there, the air shifted wildly and I glimpsed a fist going in for the uppercut, I turned my face to avoid it but it still clipped me on the underside of the jaw – it wasn't enough to concuss me but it was enough to shock me, the shapeshifter turned and sprinted away and suddenly my legs vanished from underneath me, I collapsed to the ground as the flame in my hand dissipated. Sam and Dean fired shots after the shapeshifter but Dean swore as the shapeshifter rounded a corner and was lost from sight. Sam ran over and helped me to my feet, "Are you ok?" He asked me and I nodded, trying to get over the loud ringing in my ears.

"Get the son of a bitch." I growled and we sprinted off after the shapeshifter.

We traced the shapeshifter outside on the street and lost him there, I swore when seemed the shapeshifter had gone. "Aright, let's split up." Dean ordered, "Go with Sam." He looked at me, I readied my gun and nodded.

"We'll meet you around the other side." I replied and Sam and I turned and walked away at a face pace, I had my hand out and began to read the air in case something decided to jump out at us, the soreness on the left side of my face serving as a bright reminder of the last encounter with the monster. We found nothing on our side of the building and we were waiting in silence for Dean to meet us, my hands were still subtly reading the air for shifts. After a few minutes the air shifted and I turned, expecting the worst, I relaxed when I saw Dean approaching.

"Hey," He greeted, causing Sam to turn beside me, "Anything?" He asked.

"No," Sam sighed annoyedly, "He's gone."

"Alright," Dean nodded slowly, "Let's get back to the car." He told us, we nodded and crossed the street before a car passed, forcing Dean to wait.

"You think he found another way underground?" Sam asked as we stood outside the car, waiting for Dean to unlock it.

"I don't think so, I didn't see any oth-."

"Yeah, probably," Dean spoke up, cutting me off abruptly, "You got the keys?" He asked, I frowned at Dean: he's never cut me off before. Sam paused for a moment before turning around and facing his brother.

"Hey, didn't Dad once face a shapeshifter in San Antonio?" Sam asked, hunching his shoulders in an effort of apathy.

"Oh, that was Austin. It turned out not to be a shapeshifter, it was a thought form – a psychic projection, remember?" Dean answered, Sam hesitated before answering and I narrowed my eyes: did he suspect his older brother?

"Oh, right. Here ya go." Sam tossed the keys to the car to Dean, gave me a pointed look and walked away, I followed close behind.

"Do you suspect him?" I asked him in a quiet voice.

"Yeah, that's _not _Dean." He nodded.

"Well, what do you wanna do?" I queried.

"Just follow my lead." Sam told me, pulling out his gun and stepping back to Dean, "Don't move!" He ordered in a clear voice, Dean turned with a look of shock on his face, I stepped up behind Sam and aimed my gun at Dean too.

"What have you done with Dean?" I demanded.

"Guys, chill. It's me, alright?" Dean answered in a surprised tone.

"No, I don't think so. Where's my brother?" Sam asked with an angry shake of his head.

"You're about to shoot him," Dean frowned, "Both of you, calm down." He told us.

"You caught those keys with your left, you're right handed." Sam responded, his gun not wavering.

"Oh God, Sammy, I can catch with both hands and you both wanna shoot me for it." Dean rolled his eyes and I frowned.

"You're not Dean." I argued, Dean tilted his head at me and gave me a challenging look.

"Why don't you pull the trigger then, huh?" Dean smirked and took a step towards us, "Because you're not sure. Come on, you know me." Dean pressed, I frowned as he moved towards Sam, my finger hovered and hesitated over the trigger, I turned to Sam and him an unsure look.

"Don't." Sam told Dean firmly, his older brother smiled before brandishing a crowbar and hitting Sam twice with it, Sam slumped to the ground and I cried out in fear, Dean smiled and turned to me.

"Stay back!" I yelled at him, trying to force my gun hand to stop shaking. Dean's smile grew wider as he advanced, "Listen to me, you-." I was cut off when Dean suddenly lunged, grabbing my gunhand and twisting it behind my back, I gave a small cry of pain and Dean chuckled, moving the hair out of my face.

"Shhh," He whispered to me, tears slid down my face in fear and he gave me that sinister, unfriendly grin. His hand moved up and covered my mouth cutting off my air supply, I screamed under it and reached up with my other arm and swung wildly at Dean. I connected with the side of his head and he grunted and grabbed my arm, securing them both behind my back as my heartbeat pounded in my ears, my eyelids soon grew heavy and the darkness came and found me, the last thing I saw was the child-like gleam I had seen in Dean's eyes that I had grown to adore so much.

I woke up in a small, dusty abandoned room and sighed in pain as I remembered the events that had happened earlier, I went to move my hands but found that they were securely bound by a cold metal. Shackles. Dean came out from the darkness and violently backhanded me, his palm hit my cheek with a crack and I let out a small scream of pain. "Don't you touch her!" I heard Sam's voice roar at the shapeshifter loudly as I groaned, I looked up through my hair to see Dean grinning at Sam wildly, "Now tell me where he is, where's Dean?" Sam continued angrily.

"You don't really wanna know," Dean chuckled, in the half light I saw his eyes glinting silver, "I swear, the more I learn about you and your family... I thought _I _came from a bad background." Dean laughed louder and I frowned.

"What do you mean, 'learn'?" I asked in confusion, the shapeshifter stopped laughing and looked up at me slowly, he held both sides of his head and closed his eyes, a grimace of pain appearing on his features. I looked over to Sam in fear but he was staring at the shapeshifter in confusion. After a few more moments the shapeshifter relaxed and let go of his head, when he looked back up at us he was smiling evilly.

"Oh, wow. He's sure got issues with you." Dean grinned at Sam, showing white, perfect teeth, "You got to go to college, he had to stay home. I mean, _I _had to stay home. With Dad. You don't think I had dreams of my own?" The shapeshifter feigned a look of hurt and I shifted uncomfortably: feeling like I was intruding on a family matter, "But Dad needed me... where the hell were you?" He demanded angrily.

"Just stop. Where is Dean?" I called out to him, Dean turns and glares at me, walking over towards me.

"And you," He said, venom lacing his tone, "You come out of nowhere and suddenly reveal that what? You're a sorcerer? I mean, sure you're hot and all... but you have that quality..." He trailed off when he reached me, I stared at one spot on the wall, refusing to look at him, Dean chuckled and crouched down in front of me. "What is it about you, that I can't put my finger on, huh?" His laughter died as his hand shot out and grabbed my chin, I struggled and strained, but it was no use, I glared at him as his silver eyes gazed into mine. "Oh yeah, you're going to inevitably destroy the world." He grinned and let go of my head violently, pushing it aside so my neck clicked painfully. He smirked as I looked back up at him, "I mean," He continued, "I thought Dean here was a freak, but you... you're so much worse." He ruffled my hair and I jerked away from him.

"Get off her!" Sam shouted aggressively to the shapeshifter, he turned to him, immediately forgetting about me.

"You got something to say, Sammy?" Dean asked as he strode over to Sam.

"Yeah, where is my brother?" Sam asked again.

"I _am _your brother. See, deep down, I'm just jealous. You got friends, you could have a life. Me? I _know _I'm a freak. And sooner or later, everybody's gonna leave me." Dean leant closer to Sam, who frowned up at the shapeshifter.

"What are you talking about?" Sam asked, confusion written on his face.

"You left. Hell, I did everything Dad asked me to, and he ditched me too. No explanation, nothing. Just poof. Left me with your sorry ass... But still, this life? It's not without its perks." The shapeshifter laughed, using Dean's line from earlier, "Ah God, I meet the nicest people. Like Steph over there, and little Becky. You know, Dean would bang them if he had the chance," Dean shrugged and smiled, "Let's see what happens." He concluded and punched Sam in the chin, Sam's head rocked back and he fell unconscious, Dean smirked and covered him with a sheet. Then he walked over and crouched in front of me, I looked at him with wide, fearful eyes. "Your turn to decide, sweet-cheeks," He said, "Pick one, you or Becky?" He asked. I turned my head to face him slowly and narrowed my eyes at him.

"Go to hell." I whispered to him angrily, he laughed and slapped me across the face before he walked out the room, leaving me alone in the dark.

The door opened slowly and I squinted through the bright light, Dean walked through with a concerned look on his face as he walked over to me, "Hey," He said to me in a gentle voice but I ignored him, "Steph, its me." Dean pressed and I glared at him.

"That's what you said last time." I seethed acidly.

"We don't have time for this, where's Sam?" Dean asked, my eyes flickered to where Sam was covered with the sheet, Dean walked over and threw the sheet off of his brother, Sam's head was still bowed and his eyes were shut, "Sam? Sammy!" Dean called loudly, slapping his brother awake, Sam groaned and lifted his head.

"Dean?" Sam asked groggily.

"Who else?" Dean smiled and bought out his lockpicks and started fiddling with Sam's shackles, "Now, that be you, Sam, and not that freak of nature." Sam laughed and sighed in relief as his shackles clattered to the floor and he rubbed his raw, red wrists.

"Oh, Stephanie." Sam breathed as he walked over to me, pushing my ruffeld hair from my face, "Are you ok?" He asked gently, as Dean approached behind me and started fiddling with the locks on my cuffs.

"Just peachy." I responded flatly, giving him a look as the handcuffs fell to the floor, I rotated my wrists and flexed my hands as I stood slowly, "He went to Rebecca's looking like you." I looked at Dean, he sighed for a long moment before he shrugged.

"Well, he's not stupid. He picked the handsome brother." Dean smirked, Sam shot him a glare as we walked out of the narrow room.

"Yeah that's the thing," Sam explained as we tried to make our way out of the place, it seemed like we had been taken to an old basement somewhere on the edge of town, "He didn't just look like you, he _was _you. Or he was becoming you." Sam continued, I nodded in agreement whilst Dean shot us both a confused glance.

"What do you both mean?" Dean asked.

"I don't know how to explain it, it was like... he was downloading your thoughts and memories." I narrowed my eyes as I remembered the shapeshifter holding his head and grimacing.

"You mean, like the Vulcan mind held?" Dean wondered, and Sam nodded.

"Yeah, something like that, maybe that's why he didn't just kill us." Sam suggested.

"Maybe he needs to keep us all alive. Psychic connection." Dean responded.

"Yeah, maybe..." Sam trailed off doubtfully.

"Come on, let's get out of here. He's probably at Rebecca's already." I told them, pointing to a large door with light spilling out of it.

We had made it outside onto street level, but Dean's car was back outside the first manhole where we had entered the sewer, as we were walking quietly down the street towards Rebecca's house Dean and Sam had stopped and were looking through a shop window, I back tracked and saw they were staring at a news report being shown on the TV screen of an electronics shop. "An anonymous tip led police to a home in the Central West End, where a S.W.A.T team discovered a local woman bound and gagged. Her attacker – a white male: approximately twenty-four to thirty years of age, was discovered hiding in her home." The news reporter told us, a sketch of Dean appeared on the screen and Dean groaned annoyedly.

"Aw man! That's not even a good picture." He moaned and I edged a smile, despite the situation at hand.

"Yeah well, it's good enough." Sam told us, looking around cautiously as he walked away, Dean sighed and looked after his brother.

"Aw man!" He sighed and we followed the younger Winchester into an alleyway.

"Come on, they said attempted murder. At least we kno-." I started to say, but was cut off, yet again, by Dean.

"I didn't kill her." He finished.

"We'll check Rebecca in the morning, see if she's alright." Sam responded.

"Alright," Dean agreed, "But first I wanna find that handsome devil and kick the holy crap out of him." Dean proclaimed angrily.

"But, we have no weapons. No silver bullets." I argued.

"Steph, the guy's walking around with my face, ok? It's a little personal. I wanna find him." Dean answered, I looked at the fiery determination in Dean's eyes and nodded slowly.

"Ok," I nodded, then gestured to the rest of the town, "Where do we look?" I asked him.

"Well, we could start with the sewers." The older brother suggested and Sam sighed.

"We have no weapons. He stole our guns, we need more..." Sam paused for a moment before he spoke again, "The car?" He asked, a look of untold rage crossed Dean's features and I was taken aback by the sudden fury overtaking his emotions.

"I'm betting he drove over to Rebecca's." Dean growled.

"The news said he fled on foot, I reckon it's still parked there." I answered, trying to calm Dean down.

"The thought of him driving my car." He replied, upset, I raised an eyebrow at the older man; he really _was _ in love with his car.

"Alright, come on." Sam rolled his eyes and we emerged from the alleyway quietly.

"It's killing me!" Dean cried out after we took two steps up the street.

"Let it go." I told him.

We made it to Rebecca's house in good time, Dean instantly brightened when he set his sights on his beloved vehicle, "Oh, there she is! Finally something went right tonight." Dean sighed happily, the relief evident in his tone, I glanced at Sam and he shrugged, Dean was all but set to run to the car but a police car pulled up beside it, I looked at Dean and it was like watching his heart break in two. "Ah, crap," He groaned and then looked back at Sam and I, "This way, this way." He motioned towards the fence and we both followed suite. Dean jumped the fence and I prepared myself to clear it, but then Sam reached out and grabbed my hand.

"You go, we'll hold them off." Sam told his older brother, Dean frowned at his brother.

"What are you talking about? They'll catch you both." Dean protested, confusion lilting his voice.

"Look, they can't hold us. Just go, keep out of sight. Meet us at Rebecca's," Sam assured him, Dean turned to go but Sam called him back, "Dean!" He called, his brother turned and looked at him questioningly, "Stay out of the sewers alone." He told him, Dean didn't answer: he just turned away and continued walking, "I mean it!" He shouted to him.

"Yeah, yeah!" Dean's answering call was distant, but enough to make Sam smile a little.

"Don't move!" A voice shouted behind us and we froze, "Keep your hands in the air where I can see them." The voice ordered, we turned slowly and raised our hands quickly, two police officers shone their torches at us and sighed, "Ah forget it, it's just a young couple." The officer told his colleague.

"Oh no, we're not-." I started to say, but Sam stamped on my foot and silenced me quickly, but it wasn't needed: the officers were already walking away.

"That was close." Sam sighed and then looked down at me, "Come on." I nodded and we walked up to Rebecca's house.

"So, say this shapeshifter is real. By the way, you know you're both crazy? But, um, say it is real. How do you stop it?" Rebecca asked as she replaced Sam and I's empty beer bottles with new ones.

"Thanks," He sighed and paused before answering, "Silver bullet to the heart." He told her and I nodded in agreement, Rebecca chuckled as she looked down at the two empty beer bottles.

"You both really _are _crazy." Rebecca said, suddenly something was being smashed over our head and we blacked out, glass falling down through my hair.

I woke up to Dean finishing tying my hands and feet with rope and metal, I looked around and saw Sam was also bound do a kitchen chair, just like me. "Oh for fu-."

"Hush." Dean scolded, putting a finger to my lips, his eyes flashed silver and I groaned: twice in one night? I felt the familiar burning of rope and suddenly had a brain wave, I went to click my fingers but frowned when I couldn't move my hands to do so, Dean noticed and smirked, "What's the matter, Steph? Can't conjure one of those nifty little flames? That's because I had the great sense to tie your hands so tight thay wouldn't be able to move to do such a thing." Dean exlpained proudly.

"What are you gonna do to us?" Sam asked from across the kitchen.

"Oh, I'm not gonna do anything. Dean will, though." He smirked evilly and I glared.

"They'll never catch him." I told him bravely.

"Oh doesn't matter. The brutal murder of his own brother and their pretty little nowhere girl? He'll be hunted the rest of his life." Dean smiled and walked over to the kitchen dresser, he pulled out a drawer and started sorting through all the kitchen knives. I moved my hands in vain, trying to loosen the ropes to get out of it.

"I must say," Dean said as he finished choosing his collection of knives, a bottle of bourbon was set out beside it, along with a glass, "I will be sorry to lose this skin. Your brother's got a lot of good qualities. You should appreciate him more than you do." Dean continued, I kept my face expressionless as I moved my hands behind my back, they had loosened slightly and I was getting closer to freedom every passing second, Dean was pouring himself a drink and he raised it cheerfully to us, "Cheers." He smiled and downed the drink before picking up a large meat cleaver and walking over to Sam. I strained harder against the ropes as Dean neared Sam, I sighed happily as my right hand finally ripped free. I clicked my fingers and soon burned through the bindings, I looked up and saw the knife nearing the artery on Sam's neck, I moved my hand out and snapped my palm, the knife flew from Dean's grip and clattered across the tiled floor, Dean growled and his head whipped around and glared at me and I smiled sweetly at him, he moved towards me and I concentrated, manipulating the air so a knife flew from the table and floated carefully into Sam's lap. I looked up at Dean as he toward over me, his hand swung back, ready to punch me but then hands wrapped around his waist and pulled Dean away, Sam swung the knife at Dean but the shapeshifter grabbed his arm and twisted it, Sam groaned and fell to his knees. Sensing the sudden urgency, I drew in the shadows from the room and slashed the ties around my legs, I jumped up and gave a roundhouse kick at Dean, my foot connected with Dean's jaw and he groaned as he staggered away, rubbing his head, "Oh, you little bitch." He glared striding towards me, Sam jumped up and grabbed Dean again, firing punches into his torso and then two to his face, Dean coughed and looked up at us with a split lip. "Not bad, little brother." Dean spat blood onto the floor,

"You're not him." Sam said firmly as he stood over his older brother, Dean chuckled and sprung into action, shoving Sam out of the way and going for me, I elbow blocked the first swing and ducked under the second, then responded with three quick jabs to the chest and neck, Dean's breath hitched in his throat and he spluttered, he kicked out and sweeped my legs from underneath me, I fell to the floor, Dean grabbed a fistful of my hair and slammed it into his knee, stars burst out in front of my eyelids and I sat dazed, blinking slowly as blurry outlines of Sam and Dean fought, suddenly Sam was slammed into the bookcase and he collapsed as the bookcase fell apart, books and trinkets falling down upon him.

"Even when we were kids, I always kicked your ass." Dean smiled smugly at Dean, I found my legs and staggered over to Dean whipping the shadows at him, tendrils snapped at his arms and dug into his flesh, he gasped as blood spilt from his arms and fell to the floor, Dean turned and grabbed a pool cue from the table, he bought it in a wide arc and it slammed into my cheek, I fell again and wasn't able to get back up I realised I had fallen close to Sam and saw he was struggling to get to his feet, I breathed out slowly and saw too late the pool cue slamming down onto me, Dean was holding the pool cue tightly pressed against my throat with his foot and had his hands wrapped around Sam's throat, my lungs burned and my head felt heavy as the cue was held against my throat.

"Hey!" I heard a voice, the shapeshifter turned and the pressure was released from my throat, I lay there gasping in great lungfuls of air, a gun fired twice and hit the shapeshifter on the chest, he fell to the ground, my ring going cold as the life left the monster.

"Sam!" A girl's voice sounded distantly and I saw Rebecca rush over to where Sam was laying. Dean crouched by the shapeshifter's body and yanked something from around his neck and then he ran over to me and crouched down, throwing the pool cue away from me.

"Hey, hey, hey. Steph." Dean said to me, his voice sounding distant, I blinked up at Dean slowly.

"Dean," I coughed, finding my voice, "Nice timing." I complimented weakly, he chuckled and reached under me, picking me up bridal style and heading for the living room sofa, whilst Rebecca was directing Sam to the chair.

"So, this is what you do? You, your brother and Stephanie – you hunt down these kinds of things?" Rebecca asked as we slowly descended the porch steps, we had spent two days in Rebecca's house cleaning up and fixing the injuries we had sustained in the fight: mine was no more than a concussion, cuts and bruises and several rope burns, Sam's shoulder was still quite badly injured from the bookcase but he insisted he was well enough to travel.

"Yeah, pretty much." Sam nodded and Rebecca looked at Sam in awe.

"I can't believe it," She exclaimed, "I mean, I saw it with my own eyes. And, I mean, does everybody at school – nobody knows that you do this?" She asked, Sam shook his head and then she looked at me, "And how about you, Steph: do your school friends have any idea what you do?" She asked.

"Uh, no." I answered.

"Oh, ok then..." She trailed off for a moment and then looked hesitantly up at Sam, "Did Jessica know?" She asked quietly, Sam looked at the girl thoughtfully for a moment.

"No, she didn't." He answered quietly.

"Must be lonely." Rebecca observed sadly.

"Oh, no. No, it's not so bad is it, Steph?" Sam looked at me and I shook my head.

"Nah." I replied.

"See? Anyway, what can I do? Dean's my brother and, well, Steph is Steph." Sam and Rebecca laughed and I hit him lightly.

"Well, you know. Zach and me, and everybody at school – we really miss you." Rebecca told him in a sad voice as she hugged him tightly.

"Yeah, me too." Sam answered truthfully, then they let go and he smiled down at her.

"Well, will you call sometime?" Rebecca asked him hopefully.

"It might not be for a little while." Sam made a face, Rebecca nodded and turned to me.

"Well, thanks for letting me use your sofa as I was passed out." I smiled at her a little awkwardly, she laughed and suddenly enveloped me in a tight hug, I gave Sam a look of shock and unease and he chuckled as I patted Rebecca's back awkwardly.

"Thank you. For everything." She told me earnestly, then she turned and waved to Dean, he waved back and gave her a wink, I rolled my eyes at her and she grinned before walking back into her house, Sam and I walked back over to where Dean was stood pouring over a map on the bonnet of his beloved car.

"So, what about your friend, Zach?" The older Winchester asked, not looking up from the map as we approached.

"Cops are blaming this Dean Winchester guy for Emily's murder, they found the murder weapon in the guy's lair – Zach's clothes stained with her blood. Now they're thinking maybe the surveillance tape was tampered with, so Becca says that Zach will be released soon." Sam explained, Dean rolled his eyes as he folded up the map and got into the car, Sam and I followed.

"Sorry man." Dean broke the rare silence we had as we drove away from the town quickly.

"About what?" Sam asked as he looked at Dean in sudden interest.

"I really wish things could be different, you know? I wish you could just be... Joe College." Dean murmured and Sam shook his head in disagreement.

"No, that's ok. You know, the truth is: even at Stanford, deep down, I never really fit in." Sam admitted, I leant forward in my seat and rested my hand on Sam's headrest.

"Well Sammy, that's because you're a freak." I smiled, Dean laughed and Sam chuckled lightly.

"Well, thanks, Steph." He smiled and I smiled back.

"Well, don't worry because-."

"Let me guess:because you're a freak too?" Sam turned around and looked at me, and I frowned in confusion.

"What? No. Don't worry because Dean's a freak too, I'm just right with you all the way, the only normal one here." I told him, Sam laughed whilst Dean glanced up and looked at me in the rear view mirror.

"Wait, so the girl with all the magic turns out _not _to be the freak of the group?" Dean asked and I nodded.

"Yep." I confrmed, Dean sighed whilst Sam smiled at me.

"You know, I gotta say – I'm sorry I'm gonna miss it." Dean sighed regretfully, I frowned and looked at him in confusion.

"Miss what?" I asked, tilting my head at the older Winchester curiously.

"How many chances am I gonna have to see my own funeral?" Dean asked rhetorically,Sam scoffed and I rolled my eyes, hitting Dean playfully on the shoulder.

"Just drive, you freak."

**Author's Note: Thank you so much for your reviews! 10 days until the final ever Skulduggery Pleasant book comes out! I think I'm gonna update on... the 32****nd**** review, so please review if you want the next installment.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Author's Note: Thank you all for your reviews, I absolutely ADORE all your feedback, 9 days until the final Skulduggery Pleasant book guys! (Started writing this chapter on the 19th) OHMYGODOHMYGODOHMYGOD I really wished I was invited to the event on the 28****th**** in London, but I've already met our great Golden God before so I guess it's only fair. Ok, enough ranting, time for the story...**

Winchester and Cain

Chapter 7 – Hook Man

_Valkyrie's P.O.V_

Dean and I were sat in an outside café enjoying the beautiful weather and drinking coffee, Dean was busy tapping away on Sam's laptop, whilst Sam himself was on a payphone. Dean looked up from his laptop and frowned at his brother, "Your, uh, half-caf, double vanilla latte is getting cold over here, Francis." Dean called teasingly over to him, Sam rolled his eyes as he walked back over to us.

"Bite me." He sharply retorted as he sat down at our table.

"So, anything?" I asked him as he took a sip of his drink.

"I had them check the FBI's Missing Persons Data Bank," Sam shook his head in disappointment, "No John Doe's fitting Dad's description. I even ran his plates for traffic violations."

"Sam, I'm tellin' ya: I don't think Dad wants to be found." Dean told him, Sam nodded glumly and Dean spun the laptop round so it faced us, "Check this out, guys. It's a news item out of Planes Courier. Ankeny, Iowa. It's only about a hundred miles from here." Dean continued as we read the news article, it described the mysterious death of a frat boy who was taken from his car whilst with his girlfriend and hung from the tree above it, the girlfriend described the attacker to be an invisible man.

"'The mutilated body was found near the victim's car, parked on 9 Mile Road'.'" Sam read out a section aloud, Dean nodded.

"Keep reading." He said, I gave up and decided to just listen.

"'Authorities are unable to provide a realistic description of a killer. The sole eyewitness, whose name has been withheld, is quoted as saying the attacker was invisible.'" Sam continued, and I frowned and looked at Dean.

"It could be something interesting." I offered.

"Or it could be nothing at all. One freaked out witness who didn't see anything? Doesn't mean it's the Invisible Man." Sam replied, and I frowned.

"I know that." I told him with narrowed eyes.

"Steph's right: what if it is? Dad would check it out." Dean cut in, sensing a disagreement occurring. Sam looked at me and Dean before he caved.

"Ok, fine." He sighed.

We pulled up outside a fraternity where the victim, Rich lived, the frat boys looked confused as the three of us got out the car. "One more time, why are we here?" Sam asked as we walked over to the large building.

"The victim lived here." I answered as Dean walked up to two guys fixing their car.

"Nice wheels," Dean commented, the two boys stared at Dean in shock, "We're your fraternity brother from Ohio. We're new in town – transfers, looking for a place to stay." He explained with a grin.

We walked up to the dorm room of the fraternity, the boys stared at Dean and Sam and then gawked at me, I tried not to catch any of their eyes as we walked down the hall and finally reached the door, I pushed it open and glimpsed the boy inside and jumped back, Sam and Dean looked at me in alarm. "What is it? What's wrong?" Sam asked as Dean pushed the door open.

"It's fine, Steph, you can come on in." Dean called, I made a face as Sam lightly shoved me through the door. A boy with shaggy dark hair was stood with his shirt off, he was holding a tin of purple paint and was busy colouring his face and torso with it.

"Uh, hey – hi there." The boy stuttered, staring at me wide eyed in the mirror. I rolled my eyes at Dean as I sat next to him on the bed, he chuckled in response.

"So, who are you guys again?" The boy asked.

"We're your new roommates, this is my, uh, my girlfriend, Stephanie." Dean replied with a grin, putting his arm around my shoulders, I narrowed my eyes at him as Sam walked over to the boy to shake his hand, but the boy held out the paint pot and brush.

"Do me a favour? Get my back, big game today." He asked.

"Go on Sam, you _are _the artist, after all." Dean gave his brother a look and then glanced at the boy, "The things he can do with a brush." He told the boy, a knowing grin spreading on his features, I giggled as I glimpsed Sam's mortified expression as he reluctantly took the brush and can. "So, is it true?" Dean asked, as Sam painstakingly painted the boy's back.

"What?" He asked, a confused expression forming on the boy's face.

"We heard one of the guys around here got killed last week." I supplied, the boy nodded, a disconsolate expression clouding his eyes.

"Yeah." He nodded sadly.

"What happened?" Dean questioned.

"They're saying some psycho with a knife, maybe a drifter passing through... Rich was a good guy." The boy sighed sadly.

"Rich, he was with somebody?" Sam asked as he moved the paintbrush in painstakingly slow strokes down the boy's back.

"Not just somebody," The boy scoffed, "Lori Sorenson." He pronounced the girl's name slowly and loudly, like he was pronouncing something sacred.

"Who's Lori Sorenson?" Dean asked the boy.

"You missed a spot, just down there." I pointed to the boy's back, Sam glared at me and I smiled as Dean chuckled beside me.

"That's my girl," He grinned and then looked at the boy for his answer.

"Lori's a freshman, she's a local. Super hot. And get this: she's the reverend's daughter." The boy explained in an excited tone.

"What? A reverend's daughter? What's so great about that?" I asked, looking at Dean confusedly.

"Uh, it's a guy thing, Steph," He rolled his eyes at me before looking back at the frat boy, "Do you happen to know which church?" He asked.

We entered the local church and the door slammed behind us, the church was full of local people and I realised we had just walked in a service for Rich, the congregation turned and looked at us and I cleared my throat awkwardly, pushing Sam towards an empty row at the back of church. "The loss of a young person is particularly tragic. A life unlived is the saddest of passings," The reverend continued, my eyes wandered, bored. I noticed Sam smiling weakly at someone and looked forward to see a girl staring at the youngest Winchester, "So please, let us pray. For peace, for guidance, and for the power to protect our children." The reverend finished in a sombre tone, I looked at the stained glass windows and started wondering why they had in every church a figure of Jesus strung up on the cross, I mean, children came to church and I just thought it was sending a bad message to them if they had to look at a dead man every week. Sam elbowed me sharply and I glanced at him, he and Dean nodded their heads to all the other patrons who had their heads bowed in a prayer and quickly copied them. Dean snickered and hastily turned it to a cough when the reverend sent a sharp glare at him.

When the mass ended the three of us waited until Lori's friend had finished talking with her until we walked over to her, "I don't know why all the boys are falling over for her - she's not even that pretty." I muttered as we drew nearer to the girl. Dean smiled slightly but it faded as we stopped in front of her.

"Are you Lori?" Sam asked the girl in a kind tone.

"Yeah." She smiled sweetly, she had shoulder-length light brown hair that was in slight waves, with bright green eyes and a splash of freckles over her face.

"My name is Sam, this is Dean and that's Stephanie." He greeted, pointing to each of us in turn.

"Hi." Dean said to the girl, I merely smiled at her kindly.

"We just transferred here to the university." Sam explained.

"I saw you inside." Lori nodded.

"We don't wanna bother you, we just heard what happened and-."

"We wanted to say how sorry we were." I cut Sam off, keeping the sympathies short.

"I kind of know what you're going through. I – I saw someone... get hurt once. It's something you don't forget." Sam explained, tripping over his words, Lori nodded slowly in understanding as the reverend walked up to us.

"Dad. Um, this is Sam, Dean and Stephanie, they're new students." Lori explained as Dean shook the reverend's hand.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, sir. I must say: that was an inspiring sermon." Dean expressed in fake admiration, the man smiled as he withdrew his hand, "Me and my girlfriend, we absolutely love the comforting words of God." Dean continued, his arm wrapping around my waist, I faked a big smile and nodded.

"Thank you both very much, it's so nice to find young people who are open to the Lord's message." The reverend replied.

"Listen, uh, we're new in town, actually," I explained as Dean and I led the reverend away from Sam and his daughter, "And, uh, we're looking for a new, um, church group." I explained, the reverend nodded in understanding.

"I see, well in our church we have groups that are aimed towards young people, couples who are planning to abstain until marriage..." He trailed off when Dean and I exchanged a look, "Oh, have you two already... 'done it'?" The reverend asked, there was a shocked silence until I shook my head quickly.

"No, no. Uh, we're just looking for a young people's service." Dean chuckled awkwardly.

"Well, at home I have some pamphlets that go into depth about the different groups that we have for couples and people like yourselves, if you'd like to visit I can tell you some more about it." The reverend offered, I looked back and saw Sam waiting for us and then looked at the reverend.

"Well that sounds great, but first I think we need to get settled in at the fraternity first, it was lovely to meet you, reverend." I smiled politely before leading Dean away, as soon as the reverend's back was turned I took Dean's arm off of me, Sam smirked as we approached.

"Having fun?" He asked and I rolled my eyes.

"Why couldn't I have been your sister?" I moaned and Sam shrugged.

"Age, mainly. Also it was Dean's idea." He grinned and I sighed.

"So, where to next?"

"So you believe her?" Dean asked his brother, we were sat in the local library pouring other urban legend books.

"I do." Sam nodded.

"Yeah, I think she's hot too." Dean agreed, and I frowned, "What?" He asked, catching my look.

"She's not that pretty, guys, I don't get it." I replied, Dean smiled and shook his head.

"Like we said before, Steph, it's a guy thing." He chuckled and I frowned again.

"As I was saying, there's something in here eyes. And listen to this: she heard scratching on the roof, found the bloody body suspended upside down over the car." Sam told us, beside me Dean tilted his head.

"Wait, the body suspended? That sounds like-."

"Yeah, I know," Sam nodded, cutting his brother off, "The Hook Man legend."

"Wait... _the _Hook Man legend?" I asked a little doubtfully.

"Yeah, it's one of the most famous urban legends ever. You don't think we're dealing with the Hook Man?" He asked his brother.

"Yeah, maybe." Sam shrugged, "Every legend has a source: a place where it all began." He supplied.

"Yeah, but what about the phantom scratches and the tire punctures and the invisible killer?" I replied.

"Well, maybe the Hook man isn't a man at all – what if it's some kind of spirit?" Dean wondered.

"Here you go, arrest records going back to 1851." The librarian smiled as she handed the very large, very dusty box to Dean, he blew of the dust and coughed.

"Thanks." He spluttered as the librarian walked away, he looked at the mass of books in the box and made a face, "So, this is how you spent four years of your life, huh?" He looked at Sam and he nodded.

"How did you live?" I asked in a hushed tone.

"Welcome to higher education, guys." Sam smiled in response and gave us both a stack of books.

I checked the clock and sighed irritably: we had been at our researching for three hours and I was getting bored. I sighed and started humming the Rolling Stones and Dean looked up and grinned, "Let me down slow?" He asked and I tilted my head.

"You know that one?" I asked in surprise.

"Yeah, _A Bigger Bang _is one of my favourite albums." Dean grinned again and I nodded, Sam cleared his throat and I jumped and looked over to him.

"Hey, check this out: 1862, a preacher names Jacob Karns was arrested for murder. Looks like he was so angry over the red light district in town that one night he killed thirteen prostitutes. Uh, right here, 'some of the deceased were found in their bed, sheets soaked with blood. Others suspended upside down from the limbs of trees as a warning against sins of the flesh.'" Sam read an excerpt from the book he was reading, I nodded and flicked back through the book I was reading.

"And get this: the murder weapon? The preacher lost his hand in an accident, had it replaced with a silver hook, sound familiar?" I asked, pointing to an old photograph. Sam nodded and pointed to the next paragraph down.

"Look where this all happened." He said and Dean read over my shoulder.

"Nine mile road." Dean nods and I frowned.

"Why does that sound like I've heard it before?" I asked.

"It's the same place where the frat boy was killed." Sam answered and I nodded.

"Nice job, Doctor Venkman. Let's check it out." Dean got out of his seat and I followed, leaving Sam to gather up all the research.

The nine mile road was everything I expected: it was the typically creepy, rundown single road that had a dead end, surrounded by dark woods in the middle of nowhere, so if you screamed for help you wouldn't be heard. As we got out the car Dean went straight to the trunk and threw Sam a rifle. "Here you go." Dean said as Sam caught the rifle and looked at it.

"If it is a spirit, buckshot won't do much good." Sam answered, doubt lacing his tone, Dean nodded.

"Yeah," The older brother agreed and handed Sam a small pouch, "Rock salt." He explained, anticipating Sam's next question.

"Huh. Salt being a spirit deterrent." Sam looked at the pouch whilst Dean reached into the trunk and pulled out a thick coil of rope.

"Yeah, it won't kill them but it'll slow them down." Dean told him as we started walking towards the dark trees.

"That's pretty good," Sam complimented as he started loading the rifle, "You and Dad think of this?" He asked.

"I told you – you don't have to be a college graduate to be a genius." Dean smirked haughtily and I rolled my eyes and scoffed, opening my mouth to suddenly insult the older Winchester, but a rustling noise from the trees made us look up, suddenly alert. Sam raised his gun and looked around warily, I discreetly moved my palms and felt the air shift to my left.

"Over there, over there." I whispered, Sam nodded and cocked his gun, ready to aim and fire. A figure emerged from the woods with a gun of his own, I looked at his other hand and saw that it _was _a hand, not a silver hook. I sighed in relief: we were safe.

"Put the gun down! Now! Put your hands behind your head!" A sheriff ordered, training the gun on us, Dean jumped in shock and I sighed: scratch that last thought.

"W-wait, okay, okay!" Dean shouted back as the three of us slowly raised our hands and placed them behind our heads.

"Now get down on your knees. Come on, do it! On your knees!" The sheriff ordered, pointing his gun harder at the three of us, we complied obediently and knelt down, our hands still behind our heads. "Now get down on your bellies. Come on, do it!" He shouted, beside me Dean scoffed in objection.

"He had the gun!" Dean protested as we layed down on the cold, hard floor.

"Well, I think it's safe to say that we fuc-."

"Keep quiet!" The sheriff ordered me, I looked up at him and frowned.

"What? I can't say one thing? This is bul-."

"I said keep quiet!" The sheriff snapped and I sighed, beside me Dean snickered and I glared at him through the dark.

It was daylight when we exited the sheriff's department, Sam fought down a yawn as we went down the steps that led to the main street, "Saved your ass! Talked that sheriff down to a fine. Dude, I am Matlock." Dean chortled to his brother.

"But how?" Sam asked tiredly.

"I told him that you were a dumbass pledge and that me and Steph were hazing." He answered, I smiled sleepily.

"What about the rifle?" I asked him.

"I said that Sam was hunting hosts and the spirits were repelled by rock salt. You know – typical Hell Week prank." Dean laughed.

"And he believed you?" I asked in disbelief.

"Well, look at him: he _looks_ like a dumbass pledge." Dean smirked at his brother, Sam rolled his eyes and I laughed. Several sheriffs suddenly burst out from the building and we turned, the men all got into their police cars and sped off, sirens and lights blaring loudly. I looked at Dean and Sam in alarm and we all nodded and got into the car quickly, speeding off after the convoy of police cars.

The police cars had been called to Lori's sorority building, when we pulled up we saw Lori huddled up in a blanket in the back of an ambulance. The three of us surveyed the scene for a moment before I looked at the two boys, "It'll look suspicious if we just waltz over to them." I pointed out, they both nodded and Dean started the engine again, taking us around to the back of the building, we got out and started to walk over to the back entrance, thanking the Gods that no police had decided to patrol around here.

"I don't get it: why would the Hook Man come here? This is a long way from the nine mile road." Sam observed as we neared the building.

"Maybe he's not haunting the scene of his crime, maybe it's about something else." Dean suggested, the air shifted and I shoved the two boys to the left behind some nearby bushes, diving in after them just as two officers exit the building, a small group of sorority girls followed them, chatting in hushed tones and giggling amongst themselves. "Guys, sorority girls! Think we'll see a naked pillow fight?" Dean asked us excitedly, I rolled my eyes and scoffed, following Sam as he led us to a fence leading to a first floor balcony, he climbed up and turned and reached his hand out to me, but I shook my head. Splaying my hands and concentrating, smiling when I felt the air connect beneath my palms, I applied a slight pressure and launched upwards, grabbing the edge of the balcony and slipping over quietly, I looked down at the boys smiling at the looks of awe they had on their faces.

"Come on." I told them, leaning over and reaching for Sam's hand, he took it and I hauled him over the ledge, then Dean. Once Dean was stood with us I turned to see Sam prising open the window and slipping in, I followed him silently and smiled once we were inside: no one had noticed us. Something collided with me and I slipped and sprawled with Dean on the bathroom floor, he smirked as I laid on top of him.

"Well, this is an interesting turn of events." He grinned, I rolled my eyes and scoffed as I rolled off of him and stood up, Dean stood up and held his hands up in innocence, "What?" He asked.

"Be quiet." I shushed him irritably.

"You be quiet!" He retorted.

"You be quiet!" I retaliated childishly.

"Guys, shut _up_!" Sam silenced us as he peeked through a slit in the door, we stayed quiet and listened out for anything, after Sam was sure it was clear he opened the door and walked inside, Dean and I following sullenly. I instantly looked up when my ring on my finger turned cold, signifying a death. The bed on the far side of the bedroom was taped off, crimson stained the once-perfect sheets and a puddle was quickly drying on the carpet, on the nearby wall **AREN'T YOU GLAD YOU DIDN'T TURN ON THE LIGHT? **Was scratched into it, the blade that had written had clearly been covered in blood, it had slowly dripped from the letters and dried in various places. "'Aren't you glad you didn't turn on the light?' That's right out of the legend." Sam observed.

"Yeah, that's classic Hook Man alright," Dean said, tapping his nose knowingly, "It's definitely a spirit."

"Yeah." I agreed quietly, staring at the symbol under the sinister message with a frown: I swear I had seen that symbol somewhere. Sam walked over and stood beside me, "Is it just me, or is that something I've seen before?" I asked him, pointing to the symbol underneath the bloody words.

"Hmmm..." Sam frowned and tilted his head as he stared at the symbol.

We left the room after the quick inspection, the bloody images still burned into my mind. We were stood next to Dean's car whilst Sam poured over his research on the bonnet, "Found it." The younger Winchester suddenly said, I turned to see him holding up a picture of Jacob Karns' silver hook, a symbol was carved onto the thickest part of the blade, matching the symbol on the wall.

"It's the same symbol," I nodded in confirmation, "Seems like it is the spirit of Jacob Karns."

"Alright, let's find the dude's grave, salt and burn the bones and put him down." Dean sighed, clapping his hands together.

"'After execution, Jacob Karns was laid to rest in Old North Cemetery. In an unmarked grave.'" Sam read, his face fell as he looked up from the excerpt he was reading.

"Super." I said, using as much sarcasm as I could muster.

"Ok. So we know it's Jacob Karns, but we still don't know where he'll manifest next. Or why." Sam replied, I yawned and stretched as we got in the car.

"I'll take a wild guess about why. I think your little friend Lori has something to do with this." Dean shrugged as he started the car engine.

In Lori's sorority, there was a 'Farewell Taylor' college party being held in honour of the girl's memory, Dean was grinning as we walked through to the main room of the party, looking at all the drunken girl giggling loudly. "Man, you've been holding out on me, this college thing is awesome!" Dean exclaimed, winking at a passing girl.

"This wasn't really my experience." Sam hedged, looking around a little uncomfortably at the party-goers.

"Really? What was it like?" I asked him in shock.

"Let me guess: libraries, studying, straight A's?" Dean piped up, Sam nodded and Dean sighed sadly, "What a geek," He huffed, "Alright, you do your homework?" He asked and Sam nodded.

"Yeah. It was bugging me, right? So, how is the Hook Man tied up with Lori?" He asked rhetorically, "I think I came up with something." He continued, bring out a folded piece of scrap paper and gave it to me.

"'1932: clergyman arrested for murder. 1967: seminarian held in hippie rampage.'" I read it aloud.

"There's a pattern here, in both cases – the suspect was a man of religion who openly preached against immorality. And then found himself wanted for killings he claimed were the work of an invisible force, killings carried out – get this – with a sharp instrument." Sam explained and I tilted my head.

"What's the connection to Lori?" I asked.

"A man of religion? Who preaches openly against immorality?" He answered, I nodded slowly, beginning to understand, "Except maybe this time, instead of saving the whole town, he's just trying to save his only daughter?" He questioned.

"Reverend Sorensen. You think he's summoning the spirit?" Dean called out over the loud music.

"Maybe. Or, you know how a poltergeist can haunt a person instead of a human instead of a place?" Sam responded.

"No, but now I do." I smiled.

"The spirit latches onto the reverend's repressed emotions, feeds off them? Yeah, ok." Dean nodded slowly in agreement.

"Without the reverend even knowing it." Sam finalised.

"Either way, you should keep an eye on Lori tonight." Dean told him, Sam nodded and then looked at the two of us.

"What about you two?" Sam asked, Dean sighed sadly as he caught eyes with an attractive blonde stood next to the pool table then he looked back at us.

"Me and Steph are gonna go see if we can find that unmarked grave." He answered, tugging at my arm and pulling me out of the house, I waved to Sam before allowing myself to be taken to the car.

It was cold in Old North Cemetery, but I didn't mind: the amount of death that lingered in cemetery's turned my ring to ice, giving my a rush of power as I imagined the damage I could do with my necromancy if I used it here, instead my hands were full of dancing flames as I walked next to Dean, who was armed with a torch and two shovels. More than once I saw Dean glance at the flames in my hands, on the third glance I decided to ask him, "What?"

"What?" Dean asked, looking at me in confusion.

"You keep staring at my hands, what's wrong with them?" I asked again.

"It's nothing, it's just..." Dean sighed heavily before speaking, "These powers and this, this end of the world thing that you have going on: does it ever scare you? You always seem so... calm about it." Dean observed, I stopped walking and stared at the rows of gravestones, Dean shone his torch beam up into my face, concerned. "Steph?"

"It does." I nodded once, my voice uncharacteristically quiet.

"It does what?" Dean asked.

"Scare me. It, it terrifies me. People have seen visions of me destroying the world, Dean. _I've _seen visions of me destroying the world. Do you have any idea what that's like?" I asked him, my eyes still fixed on the headstones.

"Listen, Steph. I know we've only known eachother for several weeks, but you just don't seem like the type of girl who's gonna end mankind as we know it." Dean gave me a small smile.

"I'm offended!" I joked, putting a hand over my heart mockingly, "No, but Dean, seriously. I like to think that she's not here, maybe she doesn't exist in this world... so maybe she won't destroy it." I smiled weakly at the theory, Dean stared at me for a moment before he shrugged.

"You could be right, Steph. But what if she does appear?" He asked, I stayed silent for a few moments before answering.

"Then, I want you to kill me." I told him quietly, looking away from him.

"What? You can't be serious, Steph." Dean exclaimed, I looked up and nodded slowly.

"If I hurt anyone, like you or Sam... Then I'd want to kill myself. So do me a favour." I responded.

"That's ridiculous!" He spluttered, shining the torch beam in my face, "I'm not going to kill you, Steph. She's not going to... take you over or whatever. I won't let her." He told me firmly, I stared into his determined dark eyes, wishing I could agree with him... but I wasn't foolish: Darquesse was a part of me, she _will be _me. Instead I nodded at him and he smiled, "Good, now lets go find this grave." I nodded and let the flames in my hand grew bigger, illuminating the old headstones, after a few more steps and Dean pointed at a headstone a little way away from the others. "There." I walked over to it and saw that the headstone was engraved with a cross.

"Unmarked grave." I murmured, running my hand over the rough, stone surface.

"Here we go." Dean responded as he walked over, throwing me a shovel and readying his in his hands.

We had been digging at the grave for the best of two hours, Dean suddenly stopped and looked over to me, "Isn't there a... spell or something, for, I dunno, moving earth?" Dean huffed, I edged a smile as I threw another shovel of dirt from the grave and then paused, leaning on the shovel.

"Earth is mainly a defence mechanism, you can use the earth to turn to stone – because what can kill a stone?" I explained, Dean shrugged and I nodded before continuing, "Because of that, I haven't really practised Earth that much, so no, there isn't." Dean sighed heavily and looked at the large mound of soil we had dug up and he shook his head annoyedly.

"That's it. Next time, I get to watch the cute girl's house." He moaned and began digging again, I laughed as Dean threw a mound of dirt over his shoulder angrily, when Dean put his shovel down again he hit something hard. I stopped laughing and crouched down, using the air to move the loose bits of earth to reveal an old, wooden coffin. I stood up and backed away, looking at Dean expectantly, he sagged and I smiled sweetly at him as he aimed the shovel over the coffin, in one clean strike the wood split and collapsed on itself, dust flew outwards and Dean leaned back to avoid it. After the dust cloud had cleared we peered in and saw the remains of what was I assumed Jacob Karns.

"Hello, preacher." I grinned, throwing my shovel aside and looking at Dean, he had taken his rucksack from his back and was busy rifling through it, he pulled out some lighter fluid and table salt and handed them to me, I looked at them dubiously as Dean zipped up the rucksack.

"Right, pour salt over the stiff." Dean told me, I shot his an odd look but complied, opening the shaker and poured the substance over the bones. Once it was done I handed the shaker back to Dean, he took it and then nodded to the lighter fluid. "Now douse the fluid on it." He said, I complied and practically emptied the fluid over the body and stepped back.

"Now what?" I asked.

"Set it alight." He answered, climbing out of the hole, I grinned moved my palms out the air rushing and letting me up out of the hole, my feet landing on the ground effortlessly. I looked over to Dean and saw him glaring at me, I smiled smugly in response and snapped my fingers, conjuring a flame and letting it sit in my palm for moment. I moved my hand above it, ready to drop the flame onto it, Dean's hand suddenly grabbed my arm and I stiffened and looked at him, but his gaze was on the body.

"Goodbye preacher." He smirked and I rolled my eyes and dropped the flame, it enveloped the body almost instantly and we sighed as we watched the fire spread hungrily over the man's dusty clothes and old bones.

Dean and I rushed through the hospital searching for Sam, making our way past the patients and staff. We collided with two sheriffs as we rounded a corner, a little way down the hall we saw Sam with an officer. "We're sorry, but we can't let you pass this is a forbidden area as an investigation is underway." One of the officers told us, his colleague nodded and I pulled a face.

"No, come on we're with him," I pointed to Sam's tall figure, "He's his brother." I explained, nodding to Dean.

"Hey! Brother!" Dean smiled and called to Sam, he and the sheriff turned to Dean smiling and waving at him, the two officers glanced at eachother suspiciously.

"Let them through." The sheriff ordered and the two officers reluctantly let us pass, I smiled at them as we passed by them.

"Thank you." I called back to them as we walked over to Sam.

"You ok?" Dean asked his little brother in concern.

"Yeah." Sam nodded half-heartedly and I frowned as I recognised the reverend in the nearest patient room.

"What the hell happened?" I asked, my eyes still fixed on the reverend's unconscious form.

"Hook Man." Sam answered, using the name as if it was an epithet.

"You saw him?" Dean asked in surprise.

"Damn right. Why didn't you two torch the bones?" Sam looked at us in annoyance and the two of us frowned in confusion.

"What are you talking about, we did." Dean answered in an equally annoyed tone.

"Are you sure it's the spirit of Jacob Karns?" I asked, suddenly worried at the prospect of researching for another suspect that fit the description.

"It sure as hell looked like him, and that's not all -," Sam looked around before continuing, "I don't think the spirit is latching onto the reverend." Sam whispered.

"Well, yeah, the guy wouldn't send the Hook Man after himself." Dean replied sarcastically, rolling his eyes at his brother.

"I think it's latching onto Lori. Last night she found out her father is having an affair with a married woman." Sam explained, ignoring Dean's last comment.

"So what?" I asked, raising an eyebrow in surprise.

"So she's upset about it," Sam shrugged, turning to me, "She's upset about the immorality of it. She told me she was raised to believe that if you do something wrong, you get punished."

"Well ok, so she's conflicted. And the spirit of Preacher Karns is latching on to repress the emotions and maybe he's doing the punishing for her, huh?" Dean suggested and Sam nodded.

"Right," He agreed, and I suddenly realised it, putting the pieces together.

"Rich comes on too strong..." I murmured.

"Taylor tries to make her into a party girl..." Dean added.

"Dad has an affair." Sam concluded.

"Remind me not to piss this girl off," Dean muttered and I smiled, "But I don't get it – me and Steph burned those bones, we buried them in salt, why didn't that stop him?" He asked.

"You must have missed something." Sam shrugged and I frowned.

"No way, we burnt everything in that coffin." I argued.

"Did you get the hook?" Sam asked me and I opened my mouth to answer and then closed it abruptly.

"The hook?" Dean asked, taking over.

"Well, it was the murder weapon," Sam reasoned, "And in a way, it was part of him."

"So, like the bones: the hook is a source of his power." I realised.

"If we find the hook..." Sam speculated.

"We stop the Hook Man." Dean finished and I grinned.

"Right. Simple." I stated smugly.

"We're gonna have to do some more research." Sam shook his head at me and my grin dropped and my shoulders sagged.

"Oh for fuc-." I started to say, but Dean clamped a hand over my mouth and smiled politely at a passing mother with her two kids.

I blinked my sore eyes slowly, we had been in the library for hours combing over old scripts and papers, anything that related to Hook Man. "All this reading is gonna make my head explode." I groaned, putting the book down and rubbing my eyes.

"You've said that." Sam told me without looking up from the book he was reading.

"Twice." Dean piped up, I looked over to him and he grinned, making me smile and roll my eyes.

"Well, you should listen to me." I pretended to whine, Dean started chuckling and I looked over to him again.

"What's so funny?" I asked him irritably.

"I just imagined what you'd be like if you were in college for real, and you had to do this every day." Dean managed through chuckles, I frowned and he laughed harder, even Sam started sniggering.

"You know all I have to do is move my hands and you'd be halfway across the room, right?" I asked him with narrowed eyes, Dean stopped laughing and sent me one of his more charming smiles.

"Oh honey, I know you wouldn't do that." He smirked, his eyes brimming with arrogance, I raised an eyebrow and discreetly moved my hand, pushing against the air currents and aiming it at Dean's chair. The seat shot backwards and Dean sprawled to the ground, Sam roared with laughter and I joined in with him, chortling as Dean dragged his chair back over and sat sulking.

"So here's something, I think: log book, Iowa State Penitentiary. Karns, Jacob, personal affects: disposition thereof." Sam read from the book he was reading.

"Does it mention the hook?" I asked, leaning over and looking at where he was reading.

"Yeah, maybe: 'Upon execution, all earthly items shall be remanded to the prisoner's house of worship, St. Barnabas Church.'" Sam continued to read the paragraph as Dean walked over to our Sam and I's table.

"Isn't that where Lori's father preaches?" He asked, looking over Sam's shoulder.

"Yeah." Sam murmured and I looked up from the book at them.

"Where Lori lives?" I questioned as Sam closed the books.

"Maybe that's why Hook Man has been haunting reverends and reverends' daughters for the past two hundred years." Dean shrugged as Sam stood up from his chair, he moved away from his brother and walked over to where his coat had been discarded carelessly.

"Yeah, but if the hook were at the church or Lori's house, don't you think someone might've seen it? I mean, a bloodstained, silver-handled hook?" Sam smiled in his disbelief at the theory, Dean shrugged and made a face as he shrugged on the coat.

"Check the church records." He suggested and walked away, I frowned and looked at him in confusion.

"Where are you going?" I asked him.

"Well, whilst Sammy goes to get the books, I thought I'd go get some fresh air and stretch my legs a little, you know?" Dean answered, my mouth dropped and I stood up from my chair quickly.

"I'm coming with you." I told him and he laughed.

"Really? 'Cause I thought you were loving it in here _so _much." He smirked and I rolled my eyes.

"Shut up." I muttered half-heartedly as we left the library, I practically ran to the railing and sighed as the fresh air entered my lungs, leaning against the railing and looking out at the campus scenery. I shivered slightly at the night air and scolded myself for not bringing a coat, out of the corner of my eye I saw Dean leaning against the barrier and looking at me. "What is it now?" I asked him with a small smile, Dean shook his head and shrugged in response.

"It's nothing... it's just... you really love the fresh air." Dean answered, I turned to face him and gave him an amused look.

"Yeah, because if you hadn't noticed," I leaned in like I was telling him a secret, "Fresh air's better than stale air." I whispered and giggled at his expression.

"No, that's not what I... never mind." Dean sighed and shook his head, looking at the random sculptures that had been put on the grass areas by art students, one of them was labelled as a volcano, but to me it looked like a metal carrot.

"What is it?" I asked.

"I just can't imagine you behind a desk, or in a library doing normal work." Dean shrugged.

"It's because I've never done any normal work, and I don't intend to. Ever." I told him, shivering slightly in the cold and shivered again, looking up at the clear night sky and the glittering stars, I felt a weight around my shoulders and looked to see Dean draping his coat around me, I stared at him as he returned to his position leaning against the railing. "Thank you." I told him quietly, and he grunted.

"Don't mention it." He shrugged and I found myself smiling uncontrollably at him.

"So, have you ever done anything else besides hunting?" I asked him, Dean stared out at something before he looked at me.

"No, not really. When my Mum died my Dad was... _obsessed _with teaching us how to protect ourselves against the supernatural." Dean shook his head.

"How old were you when she died?"

"I was, uh, four. Sammy was only a few months." Dean responded in a sad, mournful tone, and I realised I was seeing a side to Dean Winchester that never surfaces.

"How'd she die?" I asked, my hand reaching out and finding his arm.

"A demon killed her." He answered shortly.

"I'm sorry." I told him sadly and he shrugged nonchalantly, the soft, open Dean going away, and the arrogant, joking older brother coming back.

"It's fine, it was a long time ago." Dean muttered.

"Not long enough, you miss her." I observed quietly, Dean stiffened and looked at me, his expression unreadable.

"Yeah, I do..." Dean sighed and I looked away, the emotions overwhelming me, "What about you, you got shoved into this, uh, reality. You must have people who you miss." Dean shrugged and it was my turn to tense up, names began rolling around in my head and I closed my eyes against it all. "Steph?" Dean's voice broke through my nostalgic thoughts and I opened my eyes and looked at him sadly.

"Everyone." I whispered, my voice cracking, I looked down at the ground as tears slid from my eyes, as if sensing my sudden raw emotion, my hair fell and curtained my face. Dean's hand brushed the hair out of my face and I smiled weakly at him, "I'm sorry – I don't normally cry like this." I jerked away from him, as if I was stung and turned away, brushing the tears from my cheeks and taking a deep breath.

"You're seriously apologising for crying? Steph, it's ok to cry." Dean laughed when I turned back to him, I shook my head at him.

"No it's not."

"Huh?" He asked, confused.

"It's not ok, Dean. I don't think I'll ever be able to go back home, and that means I'll never see my friends or my family again..." I trailed off as my words died into the night air, I took a shuddering breath and shook my head, trying to shake the emotion. "We should get back to Sam." I muttered and walked back through the doors to where Sam was sat pouring over a book, he didn't look up as I approached but tapped the page excitedly as I sat down.

"I found it," He said excitedly, I forced a smile on my face as he glanced up at me and then back at the text, "'St. Barnabas donations, 1862: received silver handled hook from state penitentiary.'" Sam's face fell and he stopped reading for a moment, then he sighed.

"What? What is it?" I asked, suddenly concerned.

"It says they reforged it, melted it down and made it into something else." Sam answered disappointedly, I groaned and rested my head on the table.

"Great. Just great."

Dean was still outside when Sam and I left the library, when Sam told him what he'd found he had nodded, not commented on the subject and we had driven in silence to the church, I caught Sam's eye in the rear view mirror but he hadn't said anything. I knew he knew that something had happened outside, but he didn't bring it up, sensing the unbalanced emotions between Dean and I – Sam was good like that. Once Dean had parked the car the three of us got out silently and stared at the towering structure of the house of God. "Alright, we can't take any chances," Dean told us as he threw me a gun and loaded his, Sam bought out his gun and checked it, "Anything silver goes in the fire."

"Sounds good, Lori's still in hospital so we'll have to break in." Sam replied.

"It's not like anyone here hasn't broken into anything before." I shrugged, Dean smiled slightly at the comment and then pointed to the church and the small house beside it.

"Alright, take your pick." He looked over to Sam.

"I'll take the house." Sam answered and began walking over to the house.

"Ok... Hey," Dean called out to his younger brother, he turned and looked at Dean expectantly, "Stay out of her underwear drawer." Dean grinned mischievously and Sam rolled his eyes and huffed. I smiled at their antics and then Dean turned to me, "So, ladies first." He smiled and motioned for me to go first, I passed and walked up to the church, looking for the easiest way in. The front door was heavy iron and securely locked from the inside, so we'd have to find an alternative route. I scanned the brickwork and a windowless arch on the side of the building caught my eye, I pointed to it and looked at Dean.

"That's our way in." I told him, Dean looked up and raised an eyebrow.

"You're kidding me, right?" He scoffed and I frowned.

"There's really nothing to joke about, we're about to break into a church." I told him.

"Well, do you have a ladder on you?" Dean asked and I smirked.

"No, hold still," I told him, Dean frowned but stood still all the same, I manipulated the air so he shot up, he grabbed onto the sill of the archway and hauled himself over the edge. Once he was clear I stood still and concentrated feeling the air currents beneath my palms, I snapped them out and propelled up to the arch, grabbing the edge and climbing up. Dean was stood waiting for me as I came over the window, I took the gun out of my pocket and checked it for salt rounds, I looked around and saw we were in the underloft of the church, old tables and chairs lay discarded and dust-covered in the corner, but the loft was otherwise empty.

"Ready, Buffy?" Dean asked in a sarcastic tone, I nodded and rolled my eyes at his comment.

"Let's go." I told him, and we descended the dark stone steps leading down into the ground floor of the church, once we reached the main hall I clicked my fingers and a flame lit up in my palm, I concentrated and it got bigger and kept me warm.

"Right, I'll take the left side, you take the right." Dean pointed to the far side of the church and I nodded, I swept down the cabinets and wooden tables, taking the candlesticks and small silver crosses that were placed evenly up and down the walls, I met Dean at the locked iron door of the entrance to the church, he held out a sack and I threw the silverware into it. After that Dean went downstairs and I unbolted the door so Sam could unlock it. I found Dean in the underloft, he had found a metal cylinder and was busy putting broken parts of a chair into it, he then doused it in lighter fluid and motioned for me to set it alight, I dropped the flame and the wood erupted into flames, Dean started throwing the silver into the bin and he stood back and admired his handiwork. There were heavy steps on the steps and we turned to see Sam entering the room with a bag, he sighed as he put the bag heavily on the floor, the contents inside clattered together.

"I got everything that looked silver." Sam told us as I picked up the bag and gave it to Dean, he then proceeded to dump everything on the roaring flames.

"Well, better safe than sorry, I suppose." I murmured as the three of us watched the silver slowly melt into the flames. I tilted my head when I felt something shift against my palm and looked down, someone was moving around downstairs. "Move." I told them in hushed urgency, the two boys frowned in confusion, I sighed and pointed to my ears and then to the floor. We fell silent as we listened for something, downstairs someone was moving what sounded like the long benches where people sat. I looked at Dean in alarm: that was our only exit.

"The window, go." Dean told us, pointing to the open arch, I walked over to it and peered down, I was confident I would make the fall, but I seriously doubted Dean and Sam would. Sam joined me and looked down and gulped.

"We'll never make that, guys." Sam shook his head, his eyes wide.

"Yeah we can, do you remember when we were going down that ladder in the sewer to find the shapeshifter, and Steph jumped off and fell? She said she channelled the air to slow her fall. She used the air to get me up here, she can use the air to get me down." Dean explained, my own eyes widened at the pressure the oldest Winchester had suddenly put me under.

"Can you do that?" Sam asked me in awe, I looked at his big, imploring eyes and sagged.

"I – I guess... but aren't you worried I'll let you drop?" I asked them, Dean and Sam exchanged a look and shook their heads.

"Nope," Dean shrugged, "You can do it." We looked around at the sound of someone nearing the door to the attic, Dean whipped around and pushed me lightly towards the arch, "No time, we gotta go now." He told me.

"Alright, alright. I'm going, geez." I rolled my eyes and hooked my left leg over, with one last grin I slipped out and fell, the dark ground rushed up to meet me and I smiled at the sheer thrill of falling, I moved my hands out and I suddenly started slowing, landing in a roll and coming up smoothly. I looked up to see the two boys, now tiny figures, looking out of the window down at me. I saw the taller figure of Sam slowly perch himself on the edge of the sill, he looked back at Dean and I smiled slightly when I saw Dean shake his shoulders jokingly, after another few seconds Sam let himself drop I walked forward and concentrated on him, when he drew closer to the ground I moved my palms, manipulating the air so his descent slowed. Sam's feet lightly touched the ground and he staggered back in shock, his eyes wide and his mouth slightly open, I tried hard not to laugh at his expression but failed. He blinked at the sound of me giggling and his mouth closed, "Was it fun?" I asked him with a small smile.

"Terrifying." His voice shook and I laughed, stepping back and looking up at Dean, he too was now perched on the sill, ready to jump. After what seemed a few moments of deep thought, Dean's arms reached down and he pushed himself off, hurtling towards us at an alarming speed, I moved my hands out and steadied his descent, as he was no more than five feet off the ground I suddenly dropped my hands and Dean plummeted to the ground, he groaned and slowly got to his feet, Sam was grinning wildly as he fought to stifle his laughter. I smiled sweetly as Dean glared at me.

"That," He growled, "Was not funny."

"You should have seen your face!" Sam collapsed with peals of laughter, I giggled along with him.

"Whatever." Dean huffed and stormed off back to the car, Sam and I followed, still giggling amongst ourselves, as Dean was getting back in the car I looked back at the church, to my surprise I saw that the large iron door was wide open, I glimpsed the back of a familiar head inside sitting in one of the pews. I walked over to the church and up the stone steps, someone came rushing up behind me and grabbed my shoulders, I whipped around and saw Sam looking at me fearfully.

"Uh, Steph," He gave me a tight smile, "The car's this way." He tried to steer me around but I shook him off.

"Look." I pointed to the person sitting in the pew and Sam's mouth dropped. He walked over to the person just as Dean appeared in the doorway.

"What are we still doing here?" He bit out through clenched teeth.

"The person in the pew. Look who it is." I told him, pointing to the person, Dean's face softened and I rolled my eyes, grabbing his arm and catching up to Sam.

"Lori?" Sam asked in disbelief, the girl whipped around and I saw her face was stained with tears, I groaned inwardly: why couldn't people cry in the safety of their own homes? Dean caught my look and tugged me away.

"Come on, let's go check to see if the silver's melted." Dean told me, I nodded and we left quickly and silently.

Upstairs, Dean and I watched as the flames slowly died on the last remnants of chair legs, the silver had indeed melted and had stained the ash and the sides of the metal cylinder. "So what, I jumped out of a window for nothing?" Dean broke the silence, my gaze stayed on the dying embers but a smile slowly spread across my face.

"Sounds like it." I answered and Dean sighed, muttering curses under his breath. There were only a few flames left and I was growing tired of watching the flames flicker helplessly, I waved my hands and the flames extinguished, plunging the room into darkness.

"You got a light?" Dean's silhouette asked me through the darkness, I clicked my fingers and bought a flame up, cupping it in my hands, someone tapped my shoulders and I turned. Dean was there, towering over me, the flames cast shadows across his face and the dancing flames reflected in his eyes. "How do you do that?" He asked me, I raised an eyebrow at him but answered all the same.

"Well, I click my fingers and create a spark, then you just-." I was cut off with Dean's mouth crashing into mine, the flame in my hands disappeared in shock and I realised I was kissing him back. Dean's hands ran through my hair and I glided my fingers down his face, tracing his jawline with my eyes still closed. We moved back and found the wall, I was pressed up against it with Dean, one his hands snaked down my waist and I shivered slightly. We broke off, gasping for breath, he reached up to kiss me again but suddenly stopped and frowned.

"Do you hear that?" He whispered, I strained my ears over the sound of my heart thundering in my chest, I heard a scream of pain and gasped when I realised who it belonged to.

"Sam!" I exclaimed, we both ran for the door and sprinted down the stone steps. We burst into the main church and saw carnage: furniture was smashed and lay spread out haphazardly, Sam was behind behind the Hook Man, ready to attack as the spirit poised like a snake over Lori.

Dean snapped the safety off his gun beside me, "Sam, drop!" He ordered, his brother crouched down and Dean opened fire, a bullet hit the Hook Man and he disappeared into a dark grey smoke.

"I thought we got all the silver." Sam called to us.

"So did we." Dean answered, my shoulders sagged and I sighed.

"Then why is he still here?" I asked, beside me Dean shrugged.

"Well, maybe we missed something." He answered, we started scanning the church and looking around for anything, anything that looked silver.

"Lori, where did you get that chain?" Sam asked, his voice echoing around the church, Dean and I turned to see Sam staring at Lori's necklace.

"My father gave it to me." She answered, her voice wavering as she looked down and fiddled with the silver cross around her neck.

"Where'd your Dad get it?" I asked her with urgency lacing my tone.

"He said it was a church heirloom, he gave it to me when I started school." She answered, giving me a scared glance.

"Is it silver?" Sam asked her, grabbing her shoulders as Dean and I stormed over to her.

"Yes!" She cried out, terrified. Sam ripped off the chain in one swift movement, I felt the air shift behind me and I narrowed my eyes and turned, expecting to see someone. But the hallway was empty. A long scratch suddenly scraped itself along the walls, making the stone whine in complaint, the air continued to steadily shift around me, I glanced at Dean with wide eyes and he grabs my arm and turned to his brother.

"Sam!" Dean roared, throwing his gun to him, Sam caught it and tossed us the necklace, I caught it and looked up at Dean.

"Come on!" I told him, sprinting to the stairs, I burst into the underloft and threw the necklace down into the metal bin, I clicked my fingers and threw the flame down into the pit, pushing at the air so the table against the wall, it creaked and smashed on impact, the legs collapsed and split, I snatched one up and threw it into the metal can, "Lighter fluid." I held my hand out to Dean impatiently, he handed me it and I hastily poured some of it over the necklace and the wood, the flame latched on and roared in appreciation, I looked as the necklace melted slowly. Dean sighed and I smiled in relief, we slowly went down the stairs to find Lori and Sam huddled in a corner.

"And you two saw him too? The man with the hook?" The sheriff was questioning Dean and I, a notepad in his hand as he jotted down our answers.

"Yes, we told you, we all saw him. We fought him off and then he ran." Dean answered in a bored tone, the sheriff frowned as he wrote it down.

"And that's all?" He asked.

"Yeah, that's all." I told him, the sheriff nodded and sighed as he put the notepad away.

"Listen," The sheriff turned to Dean, "You, your girl and your brother-."

"Oh don't worry, we're leaving town." Dean cut him off with a smile and we walked away.

"'Your girl'?" I quoted with a scoff, Dean chuckled and put his arm around my waist.

"What? I kinda like it, don't you?" He smirked, giving me a smirk, I couldn't help the smile forming on my face and he chuckled again, "See?"

"Shut up." I groaned softly as we got to the car, I opened the door but Dean turned my head and we shared another kiss, I closed the door and my arms wrapped around his neck. A passing car beeped loudly but we didn't care, the only thing that mattered to me was Dean.

"Excuse me," A loud clearing of a throat and a low voice made us reluctantly break apart, we turned and came face to face with the sheriff who was questioning us earlier, "Listen you two, nobody wants to see public displays like that, ok?" He told us sternly, I caught Dean's eyes and giggled.

"We're sorry, officer." Dean told him, failing to keep a straight face. The sheriff grunted and walked away, I sighed as we got into the car. I generously left the passenger seat for Sam, we looked at Sam and Lori conversing near an ambulance, I waited for them to kiss but frowned when Sam suddenly walked away without another word, Lori looked crestfallen. Sam got into the passenger seat ad sat silently, "We could stay." Dean offered, but Sam shook his head. Dean paused and then sighed in disappointment, then started the car.

**Author's Note: Thank you so much for all your support! I was so glad to get this chapter up before The Dying Of The Light, I'm not gonna update until I get 40 reviews, so please comment if you want this story to continue! Also, please tell me your thoughts of Val and Dean, I wasn't sure whether to put it in there or not, so please tell me!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Author's Note: Guys... I thought Hook Man would be the chapter before TDOTL... I'll try my very best to complete this before the book's release. But I seriously can't promise anything, most of my chapters average 10'500ish words and that's not easy, but I absolutely love writing and I'll do it for you guys, my lovely readers!**

Winchester and Cain

Chapter 8 – Bugs

_Valkyrie's P.O.V_

Sam and I were at a table in the corner of a bar in Oklahoma, Sam was busy buried in a newspaper and I was fiddling with the necromancer ring on my finger, Sam looked over and his eyes found the ring. "So, what's with that thing anyway?" Sam asked, I looked up at him and frowned in confusion, tilting my head slightly. "With your other magic, you use your hands but with necromancy, you have a ring." He pointed out, nodding his head towards the ring.

"Oh, uh," I stumbled, fiddling with the ring, "Necromancers have to base their power in an object in order to use it." I explained, remembering what Solomon Wreath had taught me countless times.

"Who's Solomon Wreath? Is he your old partner?" Sam asked, I stiffened and looked at him blankly in the eyes.

"Mentor," I answered in a quiet voice, "He's my... _was _my mentor."

"Mentor... he taught you Necromancy?" Sam pressed.

"He thought that maybe I wasn't supposed to be an Elemental after all, and Necromancy was the best for me." I gave a small shrug.

"What did your partner say?" Sam questioned further, I froze again and looked at him tensely.

"He, uh, he _hated _the idea of me learning Necromancy actually," I gave him a small smile, "It's a long story."

"Right." Sam rolled his eyes and I gave him a pained look.

"I'm sorry, Sam. I don't really want to talk about someone who I'll never see again." I explained, my voice going quiet again. Sam nodded slowly, then going back to the newspaper, Dean came over with a bright smile on his face. In his hand he was holding a large wad of cash in it, Sam looked up again and sighed heavily.

"You know, we could get day jobs once in a while." Sam gave us a look, Dean shook his head.

"Huntings our day job, and the pay is crap." Dean answered, reaching down and pulling me in for a kiss.

"Guys, do you really have to do that in front of me?" Sam moaned and we broke apart, I gave him a wry grin.

"Duh, Sammy." I answered as Dean's hand snaked around my waist.

"You guys are jerks," Sam shook his head and Dean chuckled, "Anyway, hustling pool, credit card scams? It's not the most honest thing in the world, guys." He argued.

"Well, let's see," Dean sighed, his hand unwrapped from my waist as he held up both hands at the same height, "Honest," He moves his left hand down, "Fun and easy," He moved his right hand up and smiled at the scale he had done, "It's no contest. Besides, we're good at it – it's what we were raised to do." Dean shrugged, dropping his hands.

"Yeah, well, how we were raised was jacked, I bet Stephanie had a proper childhood." Sam gestured to me and I stiffened in my seat.

"Yeah Sam, I had a 'proper childhood'," I used my hands as quotation marks, "And look where it got me: I wasn't shoved into this life. I _chose _it. And you know why? Because normal life is not what I was supposed to do." I explained, leaning on the table with my elbows, there was silence in the room and Sam looked down.

"So... we got a new gig or what?" Dean asked, his tone a little awkward. Sam cleared his throat and tapped the newspaper he had been reading.

"Maybe, Oasis Plains in Oklahoma – not far from here. A gas company employee, Dustin Burwash, supposedly died from Creutzfeldt-Jakob." Sam explained, giving us a grim look.

"Come again?" I asked, frowning at the odd word Sam had pronounced to us.

"Human mad cow disease." Sam smiled a little and I pulled a face.

"Mad cow. Wasn't that on Oprah?" Dean murmured, Sam and I stared at him in shock.

"You watch Oprah?" We chorused, I smirked at him and Sam chuckled a little. Dean didn't meet our eyes and forced a cough.

"So this guy eats a bad burger," Dean changed the topic awkwardly, "Why is it our kind of thing?" He asked.

I continued to smirk as Sam explained, "Mad cow disease causes massive brain degeneration. It takes months, even years, for the damage to appear. But this guy, Dustin? Sounds like his brain disintegrated in about an hour. Maybe less."

"Ok, that's weird." I muttered, shuddering a little.

"Yeah. Now, it could be a disease. Or it could be something much nastier." Sam nodded, Dean looked at his brother fr a moment, I glimpsed the challenge in his eyes as he drummed his hands on the table.

"Alright. Oklahoma," Dean grinned, standing up. Sam and I stood up with him and we walked out of the bar, "Man. Work, work, work. No time to spend my money." Dean sighed sadly as we got into the car.

Oasis Plains was pretty... empty. It was just a barren piece of land with a few new houses and building plots built on deserted ground. There was no scenery, just miles and miles of... nothing. There were builders working on a site at the corner of one of the almost finished streets, Dean parked the car and we got out, approaching a man looking at the building plans. "Travis Weaver?" Sam called, the man turned and took off his battered and torn cap. His face was lined and had stubble, his eyes were dark and hooded – as if he hadn't been getting much sleep lately.

"Yeah, that's right." Travis nodded slowly, eyeing us carefully.

"Are you the Travis that worked with Uncle Dusty?" Dean asked, his eyes wide and innocent.

"Dusting never mentioned nephews." Travis replied slowly, looking at the three of us suspiciously.

"Really?" I asked in pretend confusion, looking at Sam and Dean and then back at Travis, "Well, he sure mentioned you. He said you were the greatest." I smiled, Travis tilted his head and I nodded convincingly.

"Yeah." Sam smiled too, catching on to the lie.

"Oh, he did? Huh." Travis smiled a little.

"Listen, we wanted to ask you..." Dean trailed off, looking around the building site, "What exactly happened out here?"

"I'm not sure. He fell in a sinkhole, I went to the truck to get some rope, and, uh... by the time I got back..." Travis trailed off and scratched the back off his neck.

"What did you see?" I pressed.

"Nothin'. Just Dustin." Travis answered shortly, not wanting to dwell on the subject.

"No wounds or anything?" I frowned in confusion.

"Well, he was bleeding..." Travis looked at me and I nodded at him, encouraging him to carry on, "From his eyes and his ears, his nose. But that's it." Travis sighed and looked at the ground.

"So you think it could be this whole mad cow thing?" Dean asked him, Travis looked up and shrugged simply.

"I don't know. That's what the doctors are saying." Travis answered, his tone an attempt to disregard the subject.

"But if it was, he would've acted strange beforehand, like dementia, loss of motor control. You ever notice anything like that?" Sam questioned gently.

Travis frowned and shook his head quickly, "No. No way. But then again, if it wasn't some disease, what the hell was it?"

"That's a good question." I muttered, looking up at the huge, white houses that stood proudly up and down the street, "Can you tell us where this happened?" I asked, switching my gaze back to the man.

"Yeah." He nodded, he walked passed us and the three of us watched as he crossed the empty road, to the house directly opposite. The front garden looked as normal and exactly the same as the other houses that lined the street, save for an area of the garden that was sectioned off with yellow police tape. Dean nudged me and we followed the builder, walked until we stood beside him. I stole a glance at Travis and saw he was staring sadly into the dark hole in the earth. "If you need anything else, I'll be round the back of that house right there." Travis looked up at us, Sam nodded slowly and Travis took his leave. As soon as he was gone we crouched down and peered into the hole, it was deep and dark... not to mention narrow.

"Huh. What do you two think?" Dean broke the silence, I shook my head and Sam shrugged.

"I don't know, but if that guy, Travis, was right: it happened pretty damn fast." Sam answered, we moved further forwards and under the police tape. Sam reached into his pocket and bought out his torch, switching it on and shining the beam into the hole.

"So, what? Some sort of creature chewed on his brain?" Dean wondered aloud.

"Wouldn't there be an entry wound? Besides, it sounds like this thing, whatever it was, worked from the inside." I answered.

"Right. Well, which one of us is going down Alice's rabbit hole?" Dean asked, I shook my head immediately.

"Nu-uh, nope, not me." I shook my head, my eyes wide with fear. Sam and Dean exchanged a glance and then looked at me oddly.

"Why not?" Sam asked. I shut my eyes, the caves with Melancholia that time, with the creature carrying me away and trying to force me through the tight space, creatures crawling through my hair and on my arms.

"There was a thing," I opened my eyes and looked at them seriously, "I was in these caves, and there was this – this creature that attacked me. I just... couldn't..." I trailed off and bit my lip, the two boys looked at me in amazement.

"Huh?" Dean asked dumbly.

"I have Claustrophobia, ok?" I exclaimed, my voice getting louder and louder, my words tumbling out of my mouth quickly, "Enclosed spaces, they just make me wanna," I balled up my hands and unclenched them, moving the hair out my face and then burying my face in my hands, "I can't do it, ok? Ask me to do anything else, I'll do it, but this? No." I shifted uncomfortably, Dean and Sam looked at eachother before shrugging.

"Well, guess that rules Steph out," Dean gave me a smile before turning to his brother, "You wanna flip a coin?" He asked, his tone playful and challenging, making me smile.

"Dean, we have no idea what's down there." Sam shook his head, Dean shrugged and turned away, walking out of the police tape and picking up a discarded coil of rope.

"Alright, I'll go if you're scared," Dean smiled, his eyes mocking, "You scared?" He challenged.

"Flip the damn coin." Sam answered tersely, Dean chuckled and I grinned. The older brother stepped back under the tape and reached for a coin in his pocket.

"Alright, call it in the air... chicken." Dean goaded, holding the coin up and flipping it, it spun in the air for two seconds before Sam reached out and snatched it from the air.

"I'm going." Sam announced, taking the coil of rope from Dean, I raised an eyebrow at Dean and he shrugged.

"I said I'd go." Dean protested.

"I'm going." Sam responded, his tone stern, Dean shrugged and grinned.

"Alright." He smirked as Sam started tying the rope around his waist, he gave the rest of the rope to me.

"Don't drop me." He warned, I looked up at Sam and smirked.

"Would I do that to you?" I asked him sweetly, Sam rolled his eyes and jumped down the dark hole.

"So you found some beetles. In a hole, in the ground. That's _shocking_, Sam." Dean sighed and shook his head as he drove, Sam was in the front seat examining a dead beetle that lay in the palm of his hand.

I leant forward and frowned, "After all that squabbling outside that hole, we found a bug?" I sighed and sat backwards.

"There were no tunnels, no tracks. No evidence of any other kind of creature down there," Sam murmured in response, "You know, some beetles do eat meat. Now, it's usually dead meat, but-."

"How many did you find down there?" Dean cut him off impatiently.

"Ten." The younger boy replied.

"It'd take a lot more than that to eat out some guy's brain." I piped up, Sam looked up and turned his neck to face me.

"Well, maybe there were more." He argued, I raised an eyebrow and gave him a look.

"I don't know, it sounds like a bit of a stretch." I replied, eyeing the bug sceptically in his open palm.

"Well, we need more information on the area, the neighbourhood. Whether something like this has ever happened before." Sam answered, I sighed and looked out the window.

"Great idea, Sam, we'll just ask the person who lives right here... oh wait, no one _actually _lives here yet."I sighed irritably, Dean chuckled in the front and I sighed again, "I'm bored." I announced.

"Really? We hadn't noticed." Sam chuckled and Dean grinned back at me.

"Eyes front, Dean. You're driving." I reminded him miserably, I looked out the windscreen, a house caught my eye: red balloons were tied to the white picket fence and cars were lining the street. A sign outside advertised a local barbecue for house hunters.

"Hey, I know a good place to start," Dean pointed to the house, "I'm kinda hungry for a little barbecue, how 'bout you two?" He asked.

"Please! Anything to get out of this car!" I moaned dramatically, Sam shook his head and then gave his brother a knowing look.

"What, we can't talk to the locals?" Dean protested, his eyes widening innocently.

"And the free food's got nothing to do with it?" Sam smirked.

"Of course not, he's a professional, remember?" I smiled leaning forward again, Sam laughed and looked at me.

"Right." He said, his tone dripping with sarcasm and contempt, Dean pulled over and parked the car, the three of us got out and started walking towards the house.

"Growing up in a place like this would freak me out." Dean stated, making a disgusted noise as we opened the gate and started down the garden path.

"Why?" His brother asked, looking at Dean in shock.

"Well, manicured lawns, 'how was your day honey?' I'd rather blow my brains out." Dean complained, I nodded in agreement.

"See what I mean, Sam? It's mind numbing." I muttered, Sam whipped around and looked at me, his eyes bored down into mine before he shook his head.

"You guys are crazy, there's nothing wrong with normal." Sam argued, Dean shook his head.

"I'd take our family over normal any day." He replied, we fell silent as we climbed the stairs of the porch, Sam reached forward and knocked on the door.

A man opened the door and gave us a guarded smile, "Welcome."

"This the barbecue?" Dean asked, the man nodded.

"Yeah, not the best weather but..." The man trailed off, looking at the dull cloudy sky, "I'm Larry Pike, the developer here. And you are..?" He looked at us expectantly.

"Dean," The older Winchester smiled and then indicated to myself and Sam, "This is Steph, and that's Sam." Larry shook each of our hands in turn.

"Stephanie, Sam, Dean: good to meet you. So, you three are interested in Oasis Plains?" He asked, his gaze lingered hesitantly on the two boys, but I shrugged it off.

"Yes, sir." Dean confirmed.

"Let me just say – we accept homeowners of any race, religion, colour, or... sexual orientation." Larry gave Sam and Dean a forced smile, there was a brief silence before I burst out laughing.

"What? No, no – we're brothers." Dean protested, and then put his hand around my waist, "Stephanie's my girl."

"Oh, I'm – I'm sorry." Larry smiled weakly, his face flushed with embarrassment.

"No, no, don't be. It's hilarious." I grinned at the man.

"Our father is getting on in years, and we're just looking for a place for him." Sam explained hastily, before I threatened to explode into another bout of giggles.

"Great, great. Well, seniors are welcome, too. Come on in." Larry smiled, although I sensed the smile was apologetic, he motioned for us to walk through and we obliged, Dean's hand remained firmly wrapped around my waist as he gave Larry a tight smile.

"That. Was not funny." Dean growled through clenched teeth, I broke into a smile again and looked up at him.

"You're right, it was completely hysterical!" I giggled again and Dean rolled his eyes.

"I'm never going to live this down, am I?" Dean sighed and I shook my head.

"Nope." I answered as we reached the back garden, lots of people were stood around chatting and laughing amongst themselves, "This may be a hunch," I murmured, eyeing the people with narrowed eyes, "But I don't think these are our kind of people."

"Agreed." Dean muttered, putting on a smile for Larry.

"You said you were a developer?" Sam continued the conversation with Larry, the developer nodded, his chest puffed out slightly.

"Eighteen months ago, I was walking this valley with my survey team. There was nothing here but scrub brush and squirrels. And you know what, we built such a nice place to live that I actually bought into it myself. This is our house, we're the first family in Oasis Plains," Larry smiled, his teeth were pearly white and looked a little too perfect to be real. I woman with fake blonde hair walked over, Larry smiled and put a hand on her shoulders, "This is my wife, Joanie." He announced, Joanie smiled and shook each of our hands.

"Hi, nice to meet you." She greeted and I smiled in return, although it wasn't as wide as hers.

"This is Sam, Dean and Stephanie." Larry pointed to each of us in turn, "Tell them how much you love the place, honey. And lie if you have to because I need to sell some houses." Larry joked, Joanie laughed lightly and the three of us chuckled politely.

"Guys, will you excuse me?" Larry asked and walked away.

Joanie watched her husband go and then looked at us, I moved away from Dean, spotting the drinks table and deciding to get a glass of water. I drank it and smiled politely to the other guests, I looked back at Sam and Dean and saw they were shaking hands with yet another woman, even from here I could tell she was one of those other enthusiastic people who you either liked or hated. Nevertheless, I guess there was only one way to get information on Dustin's death I walked back over to them slowly. "...Let me just say that we accept homeowners of any race, religion, colour or... sexual orientation." The woman was smiling tightly at the two boys, I sniggered and they turned around, shock written on their faces. "I'm sorry... and you are?" She asked.

"This is our friend, Stephanie." Dean answered for me, seeing my glance at him and he chuckled, "Right. Um... I'm gonna go talk to Larry," He turned to the Sam and smiled, "Ok, honey?" before walking away, smacking his arse as he did so. Sam coughed awkwardly and I struggled to keep the smile off my face. I zoned out again when the sales assistant began talking to Sam enthusiastically about the features of the homes that had been built here, thinking about Ireland and wondering what her parents would be doing at that moment. ]

A slight nudge from the younger Winchester jerked her back into reality, and she scowled inwardly when she saw that the woman was still talking about the houses. "Who say 'no' to a steam shower? I use mine everyday?" The woman laughed lightly and I forced a tight smile on my face in response.

"Sounds great," Sam replied, sounding as uninterested as I felt.

"And wait till you see the bedrooms, each room has it's own fitted wardrobe and dresser, along with a bed of course," She laughed again and I nodded, trying hard not to punch the fake smile off the woman's face. "And not to mention the-."

"Excuse me." Sam cut her off abruptly and I gave him a grateful look, but Sam had already moved away, I followed curiously and recoiled to what he was doing: a large, dark, hairy tarantula was crawling into Sam's hand and I cringed instantly, fighting the urge not to shudder as Sam carefully handled the arachnid, he walked over to where a teenage boy was stood, "Is this yours?" Sam asked him.

"Are you guys gonna tell my Dad?" The boy sighed, taking the eight legged monster from Sam's hand.

"Well that depends, who's your Dad?" I asked him, giving him a friendly smile, trying to ignore the wriggling dark mass in his hands.

"Yeah, Larry usually skips me in the family introductions." The boy scoffed in response, rolling his eyes.

"Ouch, first name basis with the old man – sounds pretty grim." I observed, whilst next to me Sam looked at the boy in interest.

"Well, I'm not exactly brochure material." The teenager smiled and I gave him a shrug. To my surprise Sam reached forward and clapped the boy on the shoulder.

"Hang in there, it gets better, alright? I promise." Sam told him, his tone sympathetic. I looked at him in sudden interest: Sam's relationship with his father couldn't have been _that _bad, could it?

"When?" The boy's smile dropped, desperation entered his eyes.

"Matthew." A voice sharply cut us off, we turned to see Larry and Dean approaching them, he shot his son a harsh look, before softening his gaze for Sam and I.

"I am so sorry about my son and his..." He looked down at the spider in Matt's hands in disdain, "Pet."

"Oh, it's no bother, really." I smiled, defending the teenager.

"Excuse us." Larry replied, taking my comment with no interest. I sighed as Matt was steered away by Larry quickly, I glimpsed the fierceness in the man's eyes and felt a pang of sympathy for the boy.

"Remind you of someone?" Sam murmured, I tilted my head and looked at the two boys as they watched Larry yell at Matt, Dean's eyes clouded over with confusion when he looked back at his brother.

"Dad?" He asked, perplexed, "Dad never treated us like that." Dean shot his brother an odd look.

"Well, Dad never treated _you _like that," Sam shrugged, "_You _were perfect. He was all over my case," He said bitterly, then looked at Dean in amazement, "You don't remember?"

"Maybe he had to raise his voice," Dean reasoned, "But sometimes you _were _out of line."

"Right, right," Sam scoffed with a shake of his head, "Like when I said I wanted to play soccer than learn bowhunting."

"Bowhunting's an important skill." Dean replied with an edge to his tone, making me raise an eyebrow: in some ways, Sam and Dean truly were entirely divided.

"Whatever," Sam rolled his eyes at his brother, "How was your tour?"

"Oh it was excellent, I'm ready to buy." Dean replied, his tone dripping with sarcasm, I laughed and he shot me a small sideways smile.

"You're so right," I grinned, "We should pool all our cash together and try and buy one, we could move in tonight, try out these steam showers that they've been raving about." I suggested, Dean chuckled and looked at me dubiously.

"Yeah right, because you have _so _much money on you." He smirked and I raised an eyebrow.

"Will a fiver do?" I smiled, pulling out a very crumpled five pound note from my pocket, Dean frowned and looked at it.

"Why do you have this?" He asked, looking at it closely.

"Because when I first arrived here it was in my pocket, why else?" I replied.

"Oh," Dean handed it back to me and I rolled my eyes, "So anyway, you might be onto something: looks like Dustin Burwash wasn't the first strange death around here." Dean turned to Sam and he looked at his brother in surprise.

"What happened?" Sam questioned.

"About a year ago, before they broke ground, one of Larry's surveyors dropped dead while on the job, get's this severe reaction to bee stings." Dean explained and I frowned: bees.

"More bugs." I muttered and Dean nodded.

"More bugs." He echoed in agreement, I sighed and ran a hand through my hair irritably, Dean reached over and squeezed my hand gently, kissing me on the cheek softly.

Dean let Sam drive on the way back, Dean and I were sat in the back, John Winchester's journal on his lap and a flame cupped in my hands so we could read the pages. "You know, I've heard of killer bees, but killer beetles? What is it that could make different bugs attack?" Dean wondered aloud, I blinked tiredly as Dean flicked through another page.

"Well, hauntings sometimes include bug manifestations." Sam replied.

"Yeah, but I didn't see any evidence of ghost activity." Dean argued, sighing in defeat as he closed the battered journal.

"Yeah, me and Steph didn't either." Sam agreed.

"I didn't know we were looking for any." I murmured, and Dean smiled slightly, "Maybe there being controlled somehow. You know – something or someone." I theorised quietly, watching the houses pass by the window quickly as Sam drove on.

"You mean, like Willard?" Sam asked and I frowned.

"Who?"

"Nevermind," Dean chuckled, putting his arm around me, I yawned and leant on him sleepily, "Yeah, bugs istead of rats." He answered his brother as I got into a comfortable position.

"There are cases of psychic connections between people and animals." Sam continued as I yawned again.

"Yeah, that whole Timmy-Lassie thing..." Dean trailed off and I sat up as I realised something.

"Larry's kid – he's got that spider for a pet." I pointed out.

"Not just one, he's got loads of bugs." Dean replied.

"Matt?" Sam tilted his head.

"Yeah."

"He _did _try and scare the really annoying lady with a tarantula." I muttered, thinking about the hairy black thing crawling towards my hand and I shuddered.

"You guys think he's our Willard?" Dean asked and I nodded slowly.

"I dunno, anything's possible, I guess." Sam responded quietly, but Dean wasn't paying attention anymore, he was looking out the window in interest.

"Ooh, hey. Pull over here." Dean pointed out the window, Sam shot his brother a confused look but did as he asked, we parked in the driveway of one of the Oasis Plains homes.

"What are we doing here?" Sam asked as he turned the car off, turning and looking back at Dean.

"Well, Steph can't keep her eyes open for a moment longer and it's too late to talk to anybody else." Dean shrugged, I blinked and tried to force myself awake.

"I'm fine." I told him as I yawned, Dean chuckled and moved some stray hair from my face.

"Sure you are." He smirked.

"We're gonna squat in an empty house?" Sam looked up at the large house doubtfully.

"I wanna try the steam shower," Dean shrugged again and I smiled sleepily, he got out the car and walked over to my side, carefully picking me up and carrying me in his arms towards the garage, I reached out tiredly and opened the door, Dean turned and looked back at Sam, "Come on." He urged, but Sam stayed still in the car, Dean sagged and stared at his brother, "Come on!" He urged, Sam sighed and reluctantly eased the car into the garage, I reached out and pulled the garage door down behind him. As Dean moved towards his brother I tiredly shut my eyes and gave in to the sleep that overtook me the moment my eyes closed.

Well, I had to hand it to the realtor: the showers were _great_. Dean and I's needlessly long shower was interrupted by a loud knocking on the door. "You ever coming out of there?" Sam's voice drifted towards us and Dean looked irritably over to the bathroom door.

"What?" He called loudly back, I smiled and padded through the steam over to the towel rail, grabbing one and wrapping it around my torso, leaving my hair to lazily drip on my shoulders.

"Dean, a police call came in on the scanner and I don't know where Steph is." Sam replied, I giggled as Dean shot me a mischievous grin and turned the shower off.

"Hold on." Dean called, I threw him a towel and he wrapped his head in it, I shook my head but a smile spread across my face at his antics.

"Someone was found dead three blocks away from here. Come on." Sam's tone was irritable now. The steam surrounded the room as Dean opened the door, Sam was stood there looking annoyedly at his brother, I ducked out from sight and hid behind the door.

"This shower is _awesome_." Dean exclaimed.

"Yeah, they're great," Sam muttered off-handedly, "Come on, we gotta be somewhere and I can't find Stephanie." Dean widened the door and I came into view of Sam, I gave the younger brother a smile.

"Morning, Sam." I greeted sweetly, Sam looked at me and then back at Dean.

"Come on." He sighed, rolling his eyes and walking away, I caught Dean's eyes and giggled again, he suddenly picked me up in his arms and I squealed with surprise as he walked us to the bedroom and shut the door behind us.

The drive over to the crime scene was awkwardly quiet, Dean was driving again and Sam was in his customary passenger seat, nobody said a word as Dean pulled over. There was an ambulance outside the house and policemen stood around talking with eachother in hushed tones, I recognised Larry standing a few feet away talking with an officer, I got out the car and approached as the officer walked away. "Hello, you're, uh, back early." Larry smiled weakly, his eyes were dark rimmed and tied, his tone was exhausted.

"Yeah, the three of us drove in, Dean and Sam wanted to take another look at the neighbourhood before we left." The lie came easily, I heard the boys approach behind me and Larry's tired eyes flickered to them both.

"What's going on?" Sam asked, looking at the officers.

"You guys met, uh... Lynda Bloome at the barbecue?" Larry stuttered, a body bag on a stretcher was being carried out of the house carefully by some paramedics.

"The realtor." I turned back to Larry, my eyes narrowing slightly.

"Well, she, uh... passed away last night." Larry explained sadly and my eyes widened in shock.

"What happened?" Dean spluttered.

"I'm still trying to find out. Identified the body for the police. Look, I – I'm sorry, this isn't a good time right now." Larry spoke distractedly, his eyes shifting to each of us.

Sam nodded in understanding, "It's ok."

"Excuse me." Larry cleared his throat and walked away quickly, the three of us watched him go in silence, a little way away, Lynda's body was being loaded carefully into the back of the ambulance.

"You know what we have to do, right?" Dean looked at Sam and I.

"Yeah. Get in the house." Sam nodded slowly.

"Should be easy enough," I agreed, watching as the ambulance drove away, then looking up at the house, "See if we have a bug problem."

The three of us moved quickly, skirting around the side of the house and climbing through Lynda's bedroom window, her bedroom matched the woman who had once lived here: pristine white floors and bedsheets, not a speck of dirt to be seen anywhere – save the blood splatters and the body outline that had been painted onto the carpet, a little way away from the outline there was a towel discarded on the marble floor. "This looks like the place." I nodded grimly, walking over to the towel and picking it up, little black things fell from it and I recoiled and dropped it, peering closer at what had fallen out. My stomach lurched when I saw that the towel was covered with dead spiders, I looked up at Dean, my mouth dry.

"Spiders," He sighed, looking down at what I had found, "From Spider Boy?" He asked.

"Matt," Sam corrected his brother tersely, "Maybe."

The rest of the day had flung by, we had stopped at a local diner but after the spider encounter I didn't really feel up to eating, Sam had also played with his food faint-heartedly whilst Dean had gladly munched into his mood without so much as batting an eyelid. On the drive back to Oasis Plains we saw a school bus pull up and recognised Matt getting off, we pulled over and watched as Matt began walking through a path just outside the new neighbourhood. "Isn't his house that way?" Dean asked, pointing towards Oasis Plains,

"Yup." Sam nodded and the three of us got out, walking quickly in pursuit of the teenager, we found him in the woods examining a stick insect.

"Hey Matt," I called, he turned and I gave him a friendly smile, "Remember us?" I asked, gesturing to myself and Sam.

"What are you doing out here?" Matt asked, eyeing us suspiciously.

"Well, we wanna talk to you." Dean shrugged.

"You're not here to buy a house, are you?" Matt asked, we all exchanged a look and shook our heads, Matt smiled triumphantly, then his face fell and fear crossed his features, "You're not serial killers, are you?" He asked, his voice a little weak, there was a brief pause and the boys chuckled, whilst I edged a smile.

"No, no, no. I think you're safe." Sam chuckled good-naturedly and Matt visibly relaxed.

"So, Matt..." Dean trailed off and looked at the stick insect on Matt's finger, "You sure know a lot about insects." He pointed, his voice nonchalant and his eyes innocent, nevertheless Matt's eyes narrowed.

"So?" The boy asked guardedly.

"You _did _hear what happened to the realtor, Lynda, right?" I asked him, my tone gentle.

"I heard she died this morning." Matt replied and I nodded.

"Mmm, that's right. Spider bites." I looked at him pointedly and he frowned slightly.

"Matt... you tried to scare her with a spider." Sam took over, stepping forward slightly, confusion clouded the teenager's features and then brightened.

"Wait. You think _I _had something to do with this?" Matt asked, horrified.

"You tell us." Dean shrugged.

"That tarantula was a joke," The boy explained quickly, "Anyway, that wouldn't explain the bee attack or the gas company guy." He tried and my eyes widened in surprise.

"You know about those?" I asked him.

"There is something going on here," Matt admitted, "I don't know what... but something's happening here with the insects. Let me show you something." Matt looked down at the stick insect and carefully laid it down on a nearby branch, then he picked up his school bag and began walking away, looking back at us and we followed slowly.

"So, if you knew about all this bug stuff, why not tell your Dad?" Sam asked, "Maybe he could clear everybody out." He suggested.

"Believe me, I've tried," Matt scoffed, looking back at us, "But, uh, _Larry _doesn't listen to me." Matt gave us a tight smile when he said his Dad's name.

"Why not?" Sam pressed.

"Mostly? He's too disappointed in his freak son." Matt replied scornfully, Sam slowed down and shook his head.

"I hear you." The younger brother scoffed, I looked over at Dean and saw he was frowning at his brother.

"You do?" Dean piped up, Sam turned to us and gave him a look.

"Matt, how old are you?" Sam called out, turning around and speeding up his pace a little.

"Sixteen." The teenager answered in a bored tone.

"Well, don't sweat it," Sam told him in a reassuring tone, "Because in two years, something great is gonna happen."

"Oh yeah? What's that?" Matt called back, his tone laced with doubt.

"College. You'll be able to get out of your house and away from your Dad." Sam answered cryptically, I blinked in surprise at Sam's advice.

"Ouch." I murmured, glancing at Dean.

"Tell me about it," Dean replied in a low voice and frowned at the back of Sam's head, "What kind of advice is that? Kid should stick with his family." Dean called out to him, Sam sighed and shot him a glare.

"How much farther Matt?" The younger Winchester turned back to the teenager again.

"We're close." Matt answered, Sam turned and gave Dean another glare and my eyes widened in surprise: Sam's relationship with his Dad can't have been good before he himself had left for college. When we reached a clearing Matt stopped walking, and over the silence you could hear the loud chirping and humming of insects nearby among the trees. "I've been keeping track of insect populations. It's, um, part of an AP science class." He explained, going red as he glanced at me, making me smile slightly.

"Wow. You and Sam are like two peas in a pod." Dean drawled, Matt looked away and Sam ignored me.

"What's been happening?" Sam asked the teenager.

"A lot. I mean, from bees to earthworms, beetles... you name it. It's like they're congregating here." Matt frowned in confusion.

"Why?" I asked him, tilting my head curiously.

"I don't know." The boy shrugged in response, I glanced at Dean and sighed.

"What's that?" Sam pointed to a small hill on the far side of the clearing and I frowned, noticing the grass was darker than it was over where we were stood. We slowly walked over to the mound carefully, on the top of the hill there were hundreds of worms thriving in a small area, I wrinkled my nose in disgust. I discreetly moved my palms and sent a wave of air towards the worms, they fell away into the ground, revealing a hole in the Earth. Dean grabs a fallen stick and moved towards the hole, he poked the stick around the hole and looked back up at us.

"There's something down there." He announced, pulling the stick out and throwing the stick down and putting his hand down the hole, he rummaged around with a disgusted expression on his face. I braced myself in case he was dragged down the hole, I sighed with relief when he pulled his hand out safely, I looked closely and saw he war holding something in his hand, Dean used his over hand to brush away the debris and worms to reveal an old, human skull.

We headed straight to the local university after dropping Matt off home, when we pulled up outside Dean opened the trunk and pulled out the box containing the bones we had found I the clearing, then we headed for the university entrance. "So, a bunch of skeletons in an unmarked grave." Sam stated.

"Yeah, maybe this _is _a haunting. You know, pissed off spirits – some unfinished business?" I wondered as we reached the entrance to the university.

"Yeah, maybe," Sam murmured, "The question is though: why bugs? And why now?"

"That's two questions," Dean piped up, but his brother ignored him. "Yeah, so with that kid back there... why'd you tell him to just ditch his family like that?" He asked, I glanced at Dean at the corner of my eye but he kept his gaze fixed on his brother.

"Just, uh... I know what the kid's going through." Sam shrugged with an air of nonchalance, beside me Dean frowned and shook his head.

"How about telling him to respect his old man, how's that for advice?" Dean argued.

"Dean, come on," The three of us stopped walking altogether, Sam turned and towered over his older brother, "This isn't about his old man. You think I didn't respect Dad – that's what this is about."

Dean narrowed his eyes at Sam and I looked away awkwardly, the tension peaking, "Just forget it, alright? Sorry I bought it up." Dean sighed and held his hands up in defeat, then he started walking away, Sam stared back at his brother I amazement.

"I respected him, but no matter what I did it was never good enough." Sam called over to Dean, his tone incredulous.

"So what are you saying? That Dad was disappointed in you?" Dean glanced back at his brother.

"Was? _Is_. Always has been." Sam shrugged, I sighed and began walking again, keeping my distance from the boys.

"Why would you think that?" Dean demanded.

"Because I didn't want to hustle pool or bowhunt," Sam scoffed bitterly, "Because I wanted to go to school and live my life, which, to our whacked out family: made me the freak."

"Yeah, you were kind of like the blonde chick in _The Munsters_." Dean joked, but Sam didn't appreciate the jibe.

"Dean, you know what most Dads are when their kids score a full ride? _Proud_. Most Dads don't toss their kids out the house." Sam sighed annoyedly, Dean stopped walking and turned, his eyes narrowed.

"I remember that fight. In fact, I seem to recall a few choice phrases coming out of your mouth." Dean pointed angrily at Sam and glared at him accusingly.

"You know, truth is: when we finally find Dad... I don't know if he's even gonna wanna see me." Sam admitted, meeting his brothers eyes sadly.

Dean froze for a moment and then sighed, "Sam, Dad was never disappointed in you. Never. He was _scared_."

"What are you talking about?" Sam asked in disbelief, a smirk appeared on his face as he stared his brother down.

"He was afraid of what could've happened to you if he wasn't around. But even when you two weren't talking... He used to swing by Stanford whenever he could," Dean revealed, his voice uncharacteristically quiet, I glanced at Sam and saw his smirk slowly fade from his face, "Keep an eye on you. Make sure you were safe."

"What?" Sam murmured, his eyes widened.

"Yeah." Dean nodded in confirmation.

"Why didn't you tell me any of that?" Sam asked, all his previous emotions dissipitating.

"Well, it's a two way street, dude," Dean shrugged and gave Sam a look, "You could've picked up the phone." Sam stayed very, very still, realisation brimming in his eyes.

"Come on, we're gonna be late for our appointment, guys." I broke the silence quietly, tapping Sam on the arm gently and walking away, leaving them both in the hallway.

"So, you three are students?" The old professor asked, looking at me behind his wide glasses.

"Yeah... yeah, uh, we're in your class – Anthro 101?" Sam questioned his answer and the professor nodded.

"Oh, yeah."

"So, what about the bones, Professor?" Dean asked, tapping the box with the bones we had excavated.

"This is quite an interesting find you three have made. I'd say they're one hundred and seventy years old, give or take," The professor shrugged, pushing his glasses up, "The timeframe and the geography heavily suggest Native American."

"Were there any tribes or, uh, reservations on that land?" I asked, feigning interest.

"Not according to the historical record. But the relocation of native peoples was quite common at that time." The man answered and I nodded slowly.

"Right. Well, are there any local legends? Histories about the area?" I pressed, the professor thought for a moment and then shrugged.

"Well... you know, there's a Euchee tribe in Sapulpa. It's about sixty miles from here, someone out there might know the truth." The professor answered and Dean grinned.

"Alright, then." He drummed his hands on the box and we exited the room quietly.

"Thank you!" I called to the man before we shut the door, "Right, let's go find the Yewtrees in the Sapapult." I smiled determinedly, Sam chuckled and Dean shook his head.

Upon arrival to Sapulpa, as the boys had corrected me, a man had directed us to the local diner where we would surely find someone who would know about any local legends and myths relating to ancient tribes. In the diner we spotted an old Native American man in the corner sorting through some very old looking playing cards on the table, we headed over to him and gave him welcoming smiles. "Joe White Tree?" Sam asked, the man looked up and nodded slowly, his eyes darted to each of us, studying us closely.

"We'd like to ask you a few questions, if that's alright." I told him.

"We're students from the university." Dean explained, lying effortlessly.

"No, you're not. You're lying." Joe shook his head as the three of us sat opposite him, Dean looked taken aback as he slid in next to me, he forced a laugh and faked another smile.

"Well, truth is-."

"You know who starts sentences with 'truth is'? Liars." Joe leaned forward and narrowed his wrinkled eyes at the older Winchester, Sam and I glanced over to him and I smirked at him.

"Have you heard of Oasis Plains? It's a housing development near the Atoka Valley." Sam took over before Dean could make an even bigger idiot of himself.

"I like him," Joe glanced at Dean, "He's not a liar," Dean frowned and my smirk turned into a snicker, it was cut short by Dean's foot connecting with my shin, Joe glanced at the two of us and then looked at Sam, "I know the area." He confirmed.

"What can you tell us about the history there?" Sam asked, a smile tugging at the end of his laps.

"Why do you want to know?" Joe asked, glancing at the three of us suspiciously.

"Something... something bad is happening in Oasis Plains. We think it might have to do with some old bones we found down there – Native American bones." I explained, Joe looked at me for a long time before leaning back in his chair.

"I'll tell you what my grandfather told me, what his grandfather told him. Two hundred years ago, a band of my ancestors lived in that valley. One day, the American cavalry came to relocate them. They were resistant, the cavalry impatient. As my grandfather put it, on the night the moon and the sun share the sky as equals, the cavalry first raided our village. They murdered, raped. The next day, the cavalry came again, and the next, and the next. And on the sixth night, the cavalry came one last time. And by the time the sun rose, every man, woman, and child still in the village was dead. They say on the sixth night, as the chief of the village lay dying, he whispered to the heavens that no white man would ever tarnish this land again. Nature would rise up and protect the valley. And it would bring as many days of misery and death to the white man as the cavalry had brought upon his people." He finished his chilling story with a glint in his wizened eyes, and I fought down a shudder.

"Insects," Dean murmured, "Sounds like nature to me. Six days."

"And on the night of the sixth day, none would survive." Joe nodded, I looked at the boys, alarmed.

"When did the gas company man die?" I asked as soon as we exited the diner.

"Uh, let's see, we got here Tuesday, so, Friday the twentieth." Dean worked out.

"March twentieth?" Sam asked, Dean nodded and I frowned.

"What's so important about the month?" I asked him.

"March twentieth is the spring equinox." Sam explained and I looked at him blankly.

"The what?"

"It's basically the night the sun and the moon share the sky as equals." Dean answered.

"So, every year about this time, anybody in Oasis Plains is in danger." Sam pointed out and I groaned.

"Larry's an absolute idiot: he built his neighbourhood on cursed land." I rolled my eyes.

"Yeah, and on the sixth night – that's tonight." Dean concluded.

"Hooray." I said, with no enthusiasm whatsoever.

"If we don't do something, Larry's family will be dead by sunrise. So how do we break the curse?" Sam asked, to my surprise Dean chuckled and shook his head at his brother.

"You don't break a curse – you get out of its way. We've gotta get those people out now." Dean shook his head, we rushed to the car and got in, Dean slammed his foot on the pedal and we sped away.

"Yes, Mr Pike, there's a mainline gas leak in your neighbourhood." I spoke in urgent tones in the mouthpiece.

"God, really? And how big?" Mr Pike's voice answered worriedly.

"Well, it's fairly extensive. I don't want to alarm you, but we need your family out of the vicinity for at least twelve hours or so, just to be safe." I explained.

"And who is this, again?" Larry's voice sounded over the tone.

"Uh," I glanced at Dean in alarm, frozen, "J-Janet Parker, I work for Oklahoma Gas and Power." I plucked a random name out, biting my lip as Larry paused.

"Uh-huh. Well, the problem is, I know a guy who works there, Travis. I know the entire team who's been working on this site for the three years of development, and there isn't a Janet Parker on the team. So tell me right now, who is this?" Larry demanded, his voice suddenly angry. Dean glanced back at me and I shot him a panicked look, opening my mouth and closing it.

"Uh..." In a flurry of consternation, I thumbed the button on the phone and hung up.

Sam sighed and reached his hand out, "Give me the phone." I sulkily placed the object in his hand and Sam began to dial a number.

"Matt, it's Sam." Sam greeted cheerily and I rolled my eyes: of course the logical thing to do would to call the kid. "Matt, just listen. You have to get your family out of that house right now, ok?" Sam told him in a desperate voice, there was a pause and Sam suddenly sighed irritably, "Because something's coming." He explained, I glanced out the window as we rounded a corner, we were almost in Oasis Plains, "Yeah, a lot more." Sam rubbed his forehead in an effort to calm himself, but the stress was evident in his rushed tones, "You've gotta make him listen, ok?" Sam told him, Dean looked over to his brother and rolled his eyes.

"Give me the phone, give me the phone." He ordered, snatching the hand from Sam's grip roughly and shoving it up to his ear, "Matt, under no circumstances are you to tell the truth, they'll just think you're nuts." Dean said in a tone full of authority, "Tell him you have a hsarp pain in your right side and you've gotta go to the hospital, ok?" He ordered, then he snapped the phone shut and looked at Sam and sighed, "Make him listen?" He repeated with a shake of his head, "What are you thinking?"

We pulled up outside Larry's house and peered in, inside the lights were still on and Larry himself was looking out the window staring at the car. "Damn it, they're still here. Come on." Dean sighed and we got out the car, Matt ran out the house as Larry stormed over to us.

"Get off my property, before I call the cops." Larry glared at us, his voice stern.

"Mr. Pike, you have to listen." I told him, meeting his gaze evenly.

"Dad, they're just trying to help." Matt tried, his Dad whirled and pointed angrily to the house.

"Get in the house!" He ordered, instead Matt turned to us, an apologetic look on his face.

"I'm sorry, I told him the truth." He admitted, Dean and I sighed whilst Sam shrugged.

"We had a plan, Matt what happened to the plan?" Dean groaned.

"Look, it's 12.00 AM. They are coming any minute now, you need to get your family and go, before it's too late." Sam told him, glancing up at the sky.

Larry scoffed and raised an eyebrow at each of us, "Yeah, you mean before the biblical storm." Larry laughed and I glared at him, I was so done with this guy.

"Larry, what do you really think happened to the realtor, huh?" I asked, stepping over to him, towering over him, "And the gas company guy? You don't think something weird is going on here?" I glared daggers at him, expecting him to crumble under my gaze.

Instead, Larry crossed his arms and didn't back down, "Look, I don't know who you are, but you're all crazy. And if you come near my boy or my family again, then we're gonna have a problem."

"Well, I hate to be downer, but we've got a problem right now." Dean stepped forward, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Dad, they're right, ok? We're in danger." Matt was at his Dad's arm again.

"Matt, get inside! Now!" Larry ordered, his tone more forceful this time.

"No! Why won't you listen to me?" Matt argued back.

"Because this is crazy! It doesn't make any sense!" Larry turned to his son, his voice loud and wildly aggressive.

"Look, this land is cursed! People have died here. Now, are you gonna really take that risk with your family?" Sam cut in, leaping to Matt's defence.

"Wait." Dean called over the din, and everyone fell silent and looked at him, "You hear that?" He asked, we stood and strained our ears. A very loud, very deep humming noise could be heard, as the seconds passed the humming got louder and louder.

"What the hell?" Larry exclaimed, on the porch of the house the fluorescent bug light began to zap wildly, eventually over heating as several bugs fell from it. I gave Dean a fearful look, he reached out and squeezed my hand in an attempt of reassurance.

"Alright, it's time to go. Larry, get your wife." Dean pointed back to the house.

"Guys!" Matt pointed up to the sky, in the morning light on the horizon, the largest swarm of bugs were flying towards the house, flickering and blanketing the dark sky.

"Oh my God." Larry murmured, staring up at the sky in horror.

"We'll never make it." I looked at Dean and Sam and they stared at me for several seconds before Dean looked at the house.

"Everybody in the house. Everybody in the house, go!" Dean ordered, no one stopped to object, we rushed to the house and Sam locked the door behind us.

"Ok, is there anybody else in the neighbourhood?" I asked Larry.

"No, it's just us." Larry shook his head as his wife entered the hallway, glancing at us fearfully.

"Honey, what's happening? What's that noise?" She asked, looking up at the ceiling, half expecting it to collapse above them.

"Call 911," Larry told her, but Joanie didn't move a muscle, she merely stared at him in shock, "Joanie!"

"Ok." She managed, picking up a phone and dialling three numbers.

"I need towels." Dean looked at Larry expectantly, he frowned but pointed to a cupboard.

"Uh, in the closet." He answered, Dean nodded and walked away.

"Ok, we've gotta lock this place up, come on – doors, windows, fireplace, everything, ok?" Sam looked at Matt, he nodded and led him upstairs, Sam took one step before he looked back at me, "Come on, Steph." He called, I nodded and quickly followed.

"Phones are dead." Joanie stated as she and Larry climbed the stairs after us.

"They must have chewed through the phone lines," I muttered, listening to the loud and murderous buzzing that pounded the walls of the house, the lights and electrics suddenly snapped off and I sighed as we were plunged into darkness, "And the power lines." I gave a thin smile.

"I need my cell." Larry's voice came through the dark, and suddenly a light flicked on from his hand and shone on his face, "No signal." He sighed, putting the phone away.

"Sam, torch." I called out, there was a rustling and suddenly Sam's torch clicked on, the beam surveyed the room, Sam checked that everyone was present.

"Yeah, you won't get a signal. They're blanketing the house." Dean shrugged, coming up beside me. The air shifted around me and I frowned, the buzzing noise moved and suddenly became based on around the doors and the windows, Sam shone his beam on the nearest window and it showed a million bugs collecting on the glass, obscuring the view of Oasis Plains.

"So, what do we do now?" Larry asked us.

"We try to outlast it," Sam shrugged, "Hopefully, the curse will end at sunrise."

"Hopefully?" Larry echoed, Dean tugged on my arm and I followed him to the kitchen, he began searching through the cabinets and I frowned at him through the half light.

"What are you looking for?" I asked him.

"Bug spray." He answered simply, I nodded and began to help him search, rifling through the cabinets and throwing stuff around carelessly. "Alright." Dean smiled when he found two of them, he threw one to me and I nodded and tore the lid off just as Joanie entered the room and looked at us doubtfully.

"Bug spray?" She asked, eyeing the cans uncertainly.

"Trust us." I told her with a small smile, we moved back into the living room where Sam, Larry and Matt were, a creaking noise was coming from the direction of the fireplace.

"What is that?" Matt asked, Sam's torchbeam was trained on the fireplace.

"The flue." He responded tiredly.

"Alright, I think everybody needs to get upstairs-." Dean was cut off as thousands of insects broke through into the living room, swarming around us, the family screamed and tried to shield themselves. The bugs crawled around on my skin and in my hair, I flinched and moved my hand, bringing up a solid shield of air to protect myself, a little way away, Dean was using a lighter and spraying the repellent on the bugs, warding some away. I clicked my fingers and conjured a flame, past caring of being noticed by the normal people, I sprayed the repellent and aimed it aggressively on the insects that were flying around the room. "Alright, everybody upstairs, now! Go, go, go!" Dean ordered, Sam led the family up the stairs up into the attic, whilst Dean and I stayed in the living room.

"I can try and stop this!" I called to him, spraying as many bugs as possible, Dean turned and shook his head.

"No, I can't let you do that!" He shouted, but I shrugged.

"Dean, I can do this. I can use the air to put up a shield!" I explained, flinching again as the bugs flew a little too close for comfort near my ear.

"But what about the ones already in here?" Dean called back and I shrugged again.

"It doesn't matter now." I replied, Dean narrowed his eyes and shook his head furiously, running over and grabbing my arm, he dragged me up the stairs as the bugs flew up after us, we reached the attic and slammed the doors shut behind us. Matt, Larry and Joanie were huddled in a corner of the dark room, Sam stood over them with his torch in hand. Bits of sawdust fell from the ceiling and the buzzing of the insects amplified above us, Joanie looked up, her face pale and her eyes red rimmed with tears.

"Oh, God, what's that?" She cried out hysterically.

"Something's eating through the wood." Dean explained woodenly, glancing up at the ceiling worriedly.

"Termites." Matt whispered and I groaned.

"Alright, everybody get back. Get back, get back, get back!" Dean ordered, herding everyone as far away from the falling sawdust as possible, I stayed where I was and licked my lips, raising my hands and rotating it, just like Skulduggery had taught me. I moved the air and pushed it up against the roof, but not snapping my palms out so the air wouldn't break through the roof. The roof fell away and the bugs appeared in a chewed out hole on the roof, buzzing furiously against the wall of air I had put there.

"What is she doing?" Joanie screamed out in fear, but I didn't answer, just held my hand up and held the shield in place.

"Steph? Steph!" Dean called to me and I looked over to him a smile on my face.

"I told you I could do it." I rolled my eyes and he gaped at me, an impressed gleam in his eyes. Suddenly the buzzing moved away and sawdust began trickling from another part of the roof and I shot him a fearful glance, "Dean, I can't do this twice!" I told him, getting tired. The roof fell away and the bugs swarmed into the room, I swore and stepped back, throwing the repellent can to Sam and clicking my fingers and firing a continuous stream of flames at the waves of insects, over the loud humming, Joanie was screaming and I fought the urge to scream at her to shut up. I blinked drowsily as I forced my energy into my magic, keeping the flames going. When they cut out I backed away, moving to protect the family as Sam and Dean used their bug spray and lighters for makeshift flamethrowers, as a last ditch effort I moved the air and moved another shield up around the family and I, but it was fading fast. When the air shield failed I gave up and tore off my jacket, throwing it around the three of them. After a few more minutes of frantic swatting at the bugs, they suddenly swarmed together and flew out of the holes in the roof that they had made, disappearing off into the sky. I walked on shaky legs to the centre of the room, joining the brothers as we watched the insects, fade away into the morning sky. I sighed tiredly and leant on Dean he threw the can away and wrapped an arm around my shoulders, we looked back at the family as they peeked out from underneath my jacket.

Later that day, we dropped by the house to find two removal vans outside Larry's house, Larry himself was loading boxes into the back of one of the vans. "What, no goodbye?" Dean called out as we approached him, Larry turned and gave us a warm smile.

"Good timing, Another hour and we'd have been gone." Larry told us, shaking each of our hands.

"For good?" Sam asked him.

"Yeah. The development's been put on hold while the government investigates those bones you found, But I'm gonna make damn sure no one lives here again." Larry replied and I tilted my head at him.

"You don't seem too upset about it." I observed, Larry looked at me and shrugged.

"Well, this has been the biggest financial disaster of my career, but..." Larry's gaze flickered behind him and I saw Matt exiting the house carrying a box, "...Somehow, I really don't care." He smiled and I grinned back at him. Sam walked over to Matt and began talking to him, whilst Dean walked back to the car, I went to follow but Larry suddenly grabbed my arm. "Those things you did in the attic," He said, "The fire throwing, and the – the shields you made, how did you do it?" He asked me, I looked at him for a moment before shrugging.

"If I told you, nine out of ten times you wouldn't believe me, Larry. Let's just say that this world you live in, it isn't the only world out there that exists." I told him with a small smile, Larry frowned in deep and sudden confusion and I prised myself away from him, leaving him alone with his thoughts and walking over to Dean, I leant against him tiredly and watched as Sam and Matt laughed together.

"Tired?" Dean asked, looking down at me, I yawned and nodded.

"Exhausted." I answered, he chuckled moved some stray hair from my face gently.

"Well, you should be – you were using the air to make shields less than six hours ago." He smiled and I shrugged.

"It helped save Larry and his family." I answered with another yawn, "Uh, I need sleep." I groaned, burying myself into Dean's jacket, hiding from the bright sunlight.

"Ok, ok. We'll be leaving soon, Sam's coming over now." Dean chuckled and I risked a peek from beyond his leather jacket, Sam was approaching us with a determined expression on his face.

"I wanna find Dad." He said as stopped beside us.

"Yeah, me too." Dean nodded.

"Yeah, but I just... I want to apologise to him." Sam looked a little guilty.

"For what?" Dean asked.

"All the things I said to him. He was just doing the best he could." Sam answered, sighing a ittle.

"Well, don't worry. We'll find him. And then you'll apologise, he'll meet Steph, and within five minutes, you two will be at eachother's throats." Dean responded and Sam laughed,

"Yeah, probably," He caught my eye and frowned, "Should we get in the car?"

"Yeah, Steph's ready to pass out in the back." Dean nodded, opening the back door and helping me into the car, once I was safely in Dean got in the driver's seat beside Sam, the three of us sat in silence for a few moments before Sam cleared his throat.

"Let's hit the road." He suggested and Dean nodded.

"Let's." He agreed.

"Finally," I moaned sleepily, "If we have to do any other cases which so much as _mention _bugs. I'm gonna scream." The boys chuckled and we pulled away quickly, Sam opened the window and waved back to Larry and Matt, I was too tired to wave, and simply got into a comfy position and closed my eyes, welcoming the sleep that overwhelmed me in seconds.

**Author's Note: This took m to write, guys! And technically it **_**is **_**up before the book comes out, but these chapters do take time. Alright, you all know the drill: let's say mmm... 50 reviews for the next update. I know I'm gonna lose some viewer because this time tomorrow they're going to have their heads stuck in the final instalment of the Skulduggery Pleasant series. Enjoy the chapter guys and also enjoy the book! **


	9. Chapter 9

**Author's Note: So, The Dying Of The Light was published yesterday, I didn't think I could but I managed to get my hands on one of those beautiful black editions of the book, and today I met Derek Landy for the second time today in Ringwood! Yes, if you were there, I was among you, although I was the fourth person in the queue so you might have glimpsed me, you might not have. Who knows? Today at eight o'clock this evening I read the last words of the Skulduggery Pleasant series... I've only just managed to stop crying... Instead of confronting my feelings I decided to bury myself into writing this chapter, so if you manage to tear your eyes away from Valkyrie and Skulduggery's last adventure, please enjoy this chapter! (Started writing on 29/08/2014)**

Winchester and Cain

Chapter 9 – Home

_Valkyrie's P.O.V_

Dean was busy tapping away at the laptop in the grubby hotel room, I was sat opposite him staring into the bland cup of coffee, waiting for myself to wake up. Sam was at a separate table at the far wall of the room, he was leaning on his hands and was absorbed in a notepad. "Alright, I've been cruising some websites. I think I found a few candidates for our next gig," Dean said, I looked up at him with tired eyes.

"Anything, just so long as it doesn't have any bugs or gross things in it." I shuddered, remembering our last job as if it was yesterday.

"Well, there's a fishing trawler that was found off the coast of Cali and the crew had vanished. And, uh, we got some cattle mutilations in West Texas," He looked up from the screen, rubbing his eyes, "Oh, I'm sorry – am I boring you with this hunting evil stuff?" He glared at Sam and I turned to see that the boy hadn't even looked up from what he was doing in the notepad.

"No. I'm listening, keep going." Sam muttered, but it was obvious he was distracted, I turned back to Dean and raised an eyebrow, he shook his head and looked back down at the screen.

"There's also one where a Sacramento man shot himself in the head. Three times." He looked up again and I nodded.

"That sounds like one we'd need to take a look at, I think-."

Dean cut me off my pointing to his brother, I turned to see he was completely oblivious to what we were saying. I used the air and it ruffled against Sam's dark shaggy hair, he jumped and looked at us. "Any of these things blowing up your skirt, pal?" Dean teased and I smirked.

"Nope, just his hair." I laughed, Sam looked up at us and opened his mouth to reply, but he suddenly looked down at his notepad.

"Hang on, I've seen this!" He exclaimed, jumping up from his seat and grabbing the notepad, a pencil fell to the floor and I frowned at it.

"This whole time you've been... drawing?" I asked him, giving him an odd look.

"Yeah, this has been in my head since last night..." Sam trailed off and grabbed his duffel bag.

"What has?" Dean frowned at his brother as Sam rifled frantically through his bag, "What are you doing?" He asked, Sam didn't reply when he found what he was looking for, he held up a photo and began comparing his drawing with it. I craned my neck and glimpsed Sam was comparing his sketch of a tree with a photo of a dark haired man stood with a blonde woman, at the man's right there was a small boy clutching at his leg, the blonde woman was holding a bundle wrapped up in white blankets, they all shared the same beaming expression.

"Guys, I know where we have to go next." Sam turned back to us.

"Where?" I asked him as Dean and I stood up from the table and crossed the room to him.

"Back home – back to Kansas." Sam answered my question, but his eyes were on Dean as he spoke, the older brother paused for a moment before he answered.

"Okay, random," Dean smirked at Sam, but I sensed that the expression was forced, "Where'd that come from?"

Sam gave his brother the photo and the notepad, "Alright, um, this photo was taken in front of our old house, right?" He said as Dean compared the pictures, now I had a closer view to the photo I could see the similarities between the boy and the man.

"Those are your parents?" I realised, looking up at the boys.

"Yeah, that's me, Sam is the little guy in Mum's arms, and that's Dad." Dean explained pointing to each person in turn, "This is our old house in Lawrence."

"Right, right." I murmured, pretending I knew where Lawrence was.

"Anyway, this is the house where Mum died, right?" Sam continued, Dean's breath hitched in his throat beside me and I looked at him, concerned.

"Yeah." Dean nodded, his voice quiet.

"And it didn't burn down, right? I mean, not completely, they rebuilt it, right?" Sam gabbled, speaking in fast, almost unintelligible tones.

"I guess so, yeah," Dean nodded, rubbing the back of his neck, "What the hell are you talking about?" His voice suddenly became dejected.

"Ok, look, this is gonna sound crazy, but... the people who live in our old house – I think they might be in danger." Sam explained, I looked up from the photo and frowned at him.

"Why would you think that?" I asked him.

"Uh... it's just, um... look, just trust me on this, ok?" Sam fumbled, nervously playing with his hands as he walked away from Dean and I, we exchanged a look and frowned.

"Wait, whoa, whoa, whoa." Dean and I walked over.

"Yeah, Sam. Hold up, what do you mean 'trust you'?" I asked him, putting a hand on his shoulder, Sam turned slowly and face us.

"I mean trust me, Steph." He answered shortly, shrugging my hand off.

"Come on, man, that's weak," Dean sighed, "You gotta give us a little more than that."

"I can't really explain it." Sam hedged and I crossed my arms.

"Sam, you have to tell us what's going on." I told him.

Beside me Dean nodded in agreement, "Steph's right, Sam, start spilling."

Sam heaved a long sigh, and Dean and I waited expectantly for him to start, "I have these nightmares." He started.

"We've noticed." Dean nodded with a slight eye roll.

"And sometimes..." Sam looked down at the floor, "They come true." He breathed and my eyes widened.

"What did you say?" I asked, stunned.

"Look, guys... I dreamt about Jessica's death – for days before it happened." Sam looked back up at us, his shaggy hair falling across his face, but noone cared.

"Sam, people have weird dreams, man. I'm sure it's just a coincidence." Dean sighed and sat down on his bed.

"No, I dreamt about the – the blood dripping, her on the ceiling, the fire, everything. And I didn't do anything about it 'cause I didn't believe it." Sam argued, shaking his head at us, "And now I'm dreaming about that tree, about our house, and about some woman inside screaming for hep. I mean, that's where it all started, guys, this has to mean something... right?"

I ran a hand through my long dark hair frustratedly, "I don't know." I told him truthfully, feeling overwhelmed by the sudden news Sam had revealed, "So what, you're saying you're psychic?"

"I don't know." Sam echoed my previous answer, he walked over to where Dean was sat and collapsed on the bead opposite his brother, "Dean, this woman might be in danger. I mean, this might be the thing that killed Mum and Jessica." He looked up at his brother, his dark eyes wide and searching.

"Alright, just slow down, would ya?" Dean stood up quickly and crossed the room, away from Sam. "I mean, first you tell us that you've got the Shining? And then you say we gotta go back home? Especially when..." Dean caught himself and trailed off, looking away out the window, where the early morning traffic was sounding loudly on the streets below.

"When what?" Sam asked, looking at his brother expectantly.

"When I swore to myself I would never go back there." Dean answered, his voice suddenly quiet.

Sam sighed and I looked away awkwardly, feeling like I was intruding on their personal family business, "Look, Dean, we have to check this out. Just to make sure." Sam reasoned.

Dean was quiet for a moment, I reached out and lightly touched his arm. He looked down at my hand for a long time before he looked back up at us, "I know we do."

The drive to Kansas was long and the quiet, the tension was thick in the air the whole drive over. Dean didn't even play any of his music to ease the silence, he just gripped the steering wheel tightly and stared straight ahead at the road. Sam was no better: he kept his focus on his family photo and the drawing he had done, his fingers traced lightly over the dark outlines of his sketch. I clicked my fingers and summoned a small flame, I stared into it and watched as it danced prettily around my palm, wondering what everyone was doing back home.

_Ireland _

"Skulduggery, it's been over two months, you have to move on." Ghastly spoke to the skeleton in a soft tone, his friend had been very, very quiet since Valkyrie Cain's disappearance. The whole faculty of Roarhaven Sanctuary had suffered the blow hard enough, but Skulduggery had taken it the worst. I the first few weeks he had tried anything, everything to retrieve Valkyrie, he had hunted down shunters and demanded answers, demanding to know how to save his partner. But they had all answered the same: Valkyrie was gone, and there was no way to get her back.

"I know how long it's been." The skeleton tilted his head and looked at Ghastly with hollow, dark sockets.

"Then why can't you accept it? We mourned and we moved on, like a friend falling in battle." Ghastly's eyes narrowed in concern at his friend.

"Because I can get her back, there must be something we missed, something we overlooked. All we -."

"Skulduggery, as your friend: I'm telling you _please _stop this... this obsession you've made. It's unhealthy." Ghastly cut him off, his voice no longer quiet and reserved.

"She's not gone. This is _Valkyrie _we're talking about, and she's not going down without a fight. She's stubborn like that." Skulduggery spoke slowly, and his voice was quiet. Ghastly stared at his friend before he slowly backed out the room and closed the door, sighing and shaking his head as he walked away.

_Valkyrie's P.O.V_

I looked up as the car slowed down outside a house, I recognised the tree outside that stood proudly in Sam's photo. It didn't look so proud anymore: it's branches looked withered and slightly grey, the bark had peeled off at the trunk and dead branches had broken away and lay defeated at the foot of the tree. "You gonna be alright, man?" Sam broke the silence, glancing at his brother worriedly.

"Let me get back to you on that." Dean sighed, looking up at the house. We quietly exited the car and slowly made our way up to the porch of the house. The boys exchanged a glance when we reached the door, neither moved to knock upon the surface, after another ten seconds I reached out and rapped my knuckles against the door four times. There was movement from inside the house and a blonde woman who looked to be about in her late twenties to early thirties, her blonde hair was tied back and her brown eyes were dull and tired.

"Yes?" The woman asked, looking at each of us in turn.

"Sorry to bother you, ma'am, but we're with the Federal-." Dean started to say.

"I'm Sam Winchester, this is my brother, Dean and this is Stephanie. Dean and I used to live here, you know. We were just driving by and we were wondering if we could some see the old place, maybe show Steph." Sam cut his brother off and gave the woman a wide smile.

"Winchester. Yeah, that's so funny. I think I found some of your photos the other night." The woman tilted her head and smiled faintly.

"You did?" Dean asked in surprise.

The woman nodded and stepped aside, "I'm Jenny, would you like to come in?" She asked, we nodded and stepped over the threshold of the house and walked through to find the kitchen. A girl with shoulder-length dark hair was sat at the table doing what looked to be homework, she didn't look up as we walked into the room. At the end of the room a toddler was bouncing up and down in his playpen, his hands wrapped tightly around the bars.

"Juice! Juice! Juice! Juice!" The toddler chanted, beaming at his Mother.

"That's Ritchie, he's kind of a juice junkie," Jenny explained, giving her son a loving smile as she walked over to the fridge and opened it, she bought out an orange sippy cup with a blue R printed on it, the toddler laughed cheerily when Jenny handed it to him. "But, hey, at least he won't get scurvy," Jenny ruffled Ritchie's hair affectionately and then turned and walked over to the girl sat at the table, "Sari, this is Sam, Dean and Stephanie. Sam and Dean used to live here." The girl finally looked up and tilted her head at us.

"Hi." Sari greeted, Dean waved and I gave her a smile.

"Hey, Sari." Sam replied.

"So, you just moved in?" I asked, turning to Jenny.

"Yeah, from Wichita." Jenny nodded.

"You got family here or...?" Dean queried.

"No. I just, uh... needed a fresh start, that's all," Jenny's smile faded a little and she looked over to her kids, "So, new town, new job – I mean, as soon as I find one. New house." She ended with a small sigh, looking at the painted white walls.

"So, how you liking it so far?" Sam asked, leaning against the table.

"Well, uh, all due respect to your childhood home – I mean, I'm sure you had lots of happy memories here," Jenny glanced at Sam with a faintly apologetic look in her eyes, I glanced at Dean and saw he was smiling weakly back at the girl, "But this place has issues." Jenny admitted.

"What do you mean?" I asked her, innocently widening my eyes.

"Well, it's just getting old. Like the wiring, you know? We've got flickering lights almost hourly." Jenny replied, glancing up at the lights.

"Oh, that's too bad. What else?" Dean asked.

"Um... sink's backed up, there's rats in the basement," Jenny paused and gave a small smile, "I'm sorry, I don't mean to complain." She apologised quickly.

"No, it's fine," Dean shrugged, unoffended, "Have you seen the rats or have you just heard scratching?"

"It's just the scratching, actually." Jenny answered.

"Mum?" Sari piped up, Jenny shot me a smile and walked over to her daughter, crouching beside her, "Ask them if it was here when they lived here."

"What, Sari?" Sam looked at the girl with a kind look in his eyes.

"The thing in my closet." Sari answered, Jenny edged a smile.

"Oh, no, baby, there was nothing in their closets," She laughed and looked up at the boys, "Right?"

"Right, No, no, of course not." Sam forced a chuckle, and shook his head.

"I wasn't dreaming. It came into my bedroom – and it was on fire." Sari shook her head, I looked up at the brother's and saw they shared the same shocked expressions.

We were walking back to Dean's car in silence until Sam whipped round, "You hear that? A figure on fire." He said, pointing back to the house.

"And that woman, Jenny, she was the woman from your, uh, your dream?" I asked, glancing back at the house a little dubiously.

"Yeah. And did you hear what she was talking about? The scratching, flickering lights – both signs of a malevolent spirit." He replied.

"Yeah, well, I'm just freaked out that your wierdo visions are comin' true." Dean sighed and rubbed his eyes, suddenly tired.

"Well, forget about that for a minute. The thing in in the house, do you think it'd the thing that killed Mum and Jessica?"Sam asked us, his tone suddenly became panicked.

"I don't know!" Dean snapped in response, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Guys, guys, calm down." I warned, glancing at the people staring at the three of us, Sam sighed and we got in the car quickly and quietly.

"Well, I mean, has it come back or has it been here the whole time?" Sam asked as soon as the car doors were closed, cutting off the gawking glares from the public.

"Don't forget, it could be something else entirely, Sam, we just don't know what yet." I reminded him gently.

"Whatever, those people are in danger all the same. We have to get them out of that house." Sam said, putting his seatbelt on and giving the house another fearful glance.

"And we will." Dean nodded, giving Sam a reassuring look.

"No, I mean now." Sam shook his head, unconvinced.

"Yeah, well do tell, how are you gonna do that Sam? Do you have a story she's likely to believe?" I asked him, rolling my eyes.

Sam stared at me for a few moments before he sighed in defeat, "Then what are we supposed to do?"

"First things first, we need gas." Dean said, turning the keys in the engine and pulling away sharply from the house.

At the gas station, we all got out and leant against the car whilst Dean filled up the tank. The sunshine shone brightly overhead, and I took off my jacket to appreciate the heat on my arms, "We just need to chill out, that's all. You know, if this was any other kind of job, what would we do?" Dean broke the silence, Sam heaved a sigh before answering.

"We'd try to figure out what we're dealing with – we'd dig into the history of the house." Sam answered.

"Exactly, except this time, we already know what happened." Dean replied, but I frowned.

"Yeah, but how much do you two _actually _know? I mean, you were both kids when it happened, right? There's only so much you'd be able to remember." I piped up.

"You mean about that night?" Dean asked and I nodded slowly.

"Yeah."

"Not much," He admitted, "I remember the fire... the heat," Dean paused for a moment, his eyes fixed on something in the distance, "And then I carried Sammy out the door."

"You did?" Sam asked, surprised.

"Yeah. What, you never knew that?" Dean looked up at Sam.

"No." He answered truthfully, shaking his head.

"And, well, you know Dad's story as well as I do. Mum was... was on the ceiling, and whatever put her there was long gone by the time Dad found her." Dean said, his voice cracking mournfully.

"And he never had a theory about what did it?" I asked.

Dean shrugged, "If he did, he kept it to himself. God knows we asked him enough times."

"Ok, so if we're gonna figure out what's going on now we have to figure out what happened back then... and see if if it's the same thing." Sam said, running a hand through his shaggy locks.

"Yeah. We'll talk to Dad's friends, neighbours, people who were there at the time." Dean nodded in agreement.

There was a pause.

"Does this feel like just another job to you?" Sam asked, breaking the silence, I glanced at the younger brother but didn't answer.

"I'll be right back. I gotta go to the bathroom." Dean cleared his throat and walked away, Sam sighed once his brother was out of earshot.

"Are there psychics in where you're from?" Sam asked.

I stared at him for a long moment, "What?"

"Psychics, you know: seers and stuff." He continued, I nodded slowly.

"Yeah, it's an adept ability. We call them Sensitives though." I answered quietly, thinking about the kind old Cassandra Pharos and the peculiar, skinny tattooist Finbar Wrong.

"And they have visions, yeah?" He asked again.

"Yep, although everything's... different in this place." I sighed.

"What do you mean?"

"It's hard to explain... this place is the same, but it's also completely different at the same time. There's no one else like me, but there's monsters and vengeful spirits? I just – I don't get it. And now you're psychic? It makes no sense." I answered, my words tumbling out of my mouth in a rush.

"Nothing ever does." Sam scoffed and looked down at the ground again, lost in his own thoughts. My own eyes wandered the landscape until they fell upon my black jacket, I clutched it to my chest and shut my eyes, remembering Ghastly presenting it to me and the amount of times it had saved me against countless gunshots and energy streams. I took in a deep breath and remembered how normal everything had been, and how _abnormal _everything had been, playing with Alice one minute and then arresting criminals the next. Everything had been just the way it should be. And now... now it was truly... awful. The sound of stones skittering over the concrete floor made me look up, it was Dean, he was putting his phone back into his pocket and he was rubbing his eyes.

"Let's go." He announced curtly, before he got in the car and started the engine, Sam and I exchanged a glance and quickly followed.

"Where are we going?" I asked as Dean pulled away abruptly, so quickly I clung onto the headrest of Sam's seat.

"Guenther's Auto Repair." He answered tersely.

"So you and John Winchester, you used to own this garage together?" Dean asked.

Yeah, we used to, a long time ago. Matter of fact, it must be, uh... twenty years since John disappeared... So why the cops interested all of a sudden?" The man looked to be in his mid-fifties, with thinning dark hair and a lined face with old, grey eyes.

"Oh, we're reopening some of our unsolved cases, and the Winchester disappearance is one of them." I lied quickly, smoothing down the sides of my formal outfit self-consciously. It was the same dress I had worn when we had to be Homeland Security with the plane crash, I hadn't liked it then and I didn't like it now.

"Oh, well, what do you wanna know about John?" The man shrugged.

"Well, whatever you remember, you know, whatever sticks out in your mind." Dean said with a small smile.

"Well," The man scratched absent-mindedly at the rough stubble around his jaw, "He was a stubborn bastard, I remember that," He chuckled slightly and I forced a smile, "And, uh, whatever the game, he hated to lose, you know? It's that whole marine thing." Sam and Dean nodded once, "But, oh, he sure loved Mary – and he doted on those kids." He breathed, shaking his head at the memory of it, I glanced at the boys and saw they were staring at the man intently.

"But that was before the fire?" Sam asked.

"That's right." The man nodded.

"He ever talk about that night?" Sam continued.

"No, not at first. I think he was in shock." The owner of the repair garage shook his head and I tilted my own.

"Right, but eventually? What did he say about it?" I asked him.

"Oh... he wasn't thinkin' straight," The man took off his battered blue cap and looked down at it sadly, "He said somethin' caused that fire and killed Mary."

"He ever say what did it?" Dean took over our inquiring.

"Nothin' did it. It was an accident – an electrical short in the ceiling or walls or somethin'. I begged him to get some help, but..."

"But what?" I pressed.

"Oh, he just got worse and worse." The owner shrugged, putting his cap back on.

"How?" Dean asked.

"Oh, he started readin' these strange ol' books. He started goin' to see this palm reader in town." The man answered, looking down at one of his own wrinkled palm.

"Palm reader," Sam repeated, "Uh, do you have a name?"

"No." The owner scoffed, his eyes wandered over my shoulder and focused something behind me, I turned and saw a man standing there, "If you can excuse me, officers, I have customers to get back to." He cleared his throat.

I nodded and gave him an understanding smile, "Uh, sure, sure. Thank you for time, sir."

We drove to the nearest payphone and waited outside whilst Sam flicked through the faded pages of a phonebook. "Alright, so there are a few psychics and palm readers in town. There's someone named El Divino. There's, uh-" Sam laughed suddenly, "- There's the Mysterious Mister Fortinsky. Uh, Missouri Moseley-."

"Wait, wait. Missouri Moseley?" Dean asked, interrupting his brother.

"What?" Sam asked, looking up from the book.

"That's a psychic?" He asked.

"Uh..." Sam looked back down at the book again, "Yeah. Yeah, I guess so." He nodded in confirmation. Dean stepped away and walked around the car, he opened the driver's door and leaned in.

He walked back over with his Dad's journal in his hands, "In Dad's journal..." Dean trailed off, opening it and paging through it, "Here, look at this," He tapped the page and held it out, I leaned over and read what he was pointing to, there was a list of names written in hastily scrawled handwriting, and just above Dean's fingernail there was the name Missouri Moseley. "First page, first sentence, read that."

I took the book from his hands and glanced over the text, "'I went to Missouri and learned the truth'..." I trailed off and looked up at him, "The truth, as in, monsters and ghosts?"

"I guess so, whenever I read that I thought he meant Missouri as in the state." Dean shrugged.

The three of us were sat on a prim leather couch in the office of Madame Missouri, we sat in silence listening to the ridiculously loud ticking of the clock. A door opened and an ageing woman with wild, frizzy hair and several bangles on her wrist emerged with a man. "Alright there, don't you worry 'bout a thing. Your wife is crazy about you," She assured him as she escorted him out, the man nodded his thanks and walked out, glancing at the three of us before he left, "Whew. Poor bastard. His woman is cold-bangin' the gardener." Missouri gave us a smile as she looked over the three of us.

"Why didn't you tell him?" Dean asked her in confusion.

"People don't come here for the truth. They come for good news," She shrugged, we stared at her in disbelief, "Well? Sam, Dean, Stephanie, come on already. I ain't got all day." She chuckled and walked back into the door she had just exited, I gave the boys a confused glance and they both shrugged in response, I sighed and followed the old woman slowly. Psychics always gave me the creeps, they had this uncanny ability to make me feel uncomfortable. "Well, lemme look at ya," She said as we entered the room, I looked away as she peered at Sam and Dean, "Oh, you boys grew up handsome," She laughed and gave us a dreamy smile, then she pointed at Dean, "And you were one goofy-lookin' kid." Dean's eyes narrowed whilst Sam and I smirked, "Sam." The woman grabbed the tall boy's hand, "Oh, honey... I'm sorry about your girlfriend." She gave him a sad, apologetic look whilst the three of us returned it with a perplexed one. She dropped Sam's shocked hand and grabbed onto my wrist, I tried to snatch it away but Missouri had a tight grip, I narrowed my eyes and moved my fingers to snap them and create a spark. "Stephanie, don't you go snappin' those little fingers of yours, now." The woman warned and I froze, staring up at her in surprise, "We don't want no fires in here on a day like this now, do we?" She smiled and dropped my wrist, I pulled it back to myself slowly, not taking my eyes off the seer's face. My eyes dropped down to my wrist and I rubbed it in wonder, and the woman gave a chuckle, "Awww, just look at her! Taken from her world and quick to fit in with you two... although I sense your loss, Valkyrie, you miss everyone dearly. And I'm sorry, that Shunter is passed, ain't no way for you to get back to your home." She explained, I stayed very, very still as I absorbed this: _no way to get home?_

"So that's it then?" I asked, my voice cracking.

"'Fraid so," She nodded, "But look at what you're doing now, honey. It's the same as before, just new people."

"Stop talking." I shook my head and stepped away from her, backing up to the wall and glaring at her.

She shrugged and looked at Sam and Dean, "Well, she took it better than most, I guess. But you're not here for Valkyrie, are you? Your father – he's missin'?" She asked, my eyes narrowed further when she mentioned my other name, and I fought the urge to hit her. "Now, now. If you hit me, Valkyrie Cain, I won't go helpin' your boys." She looked at me and my eyes widened, but I didn't reply.

"How'd you do all that?" Sam asked, looking at the woman in awe.

"Well, you were thinking about your dear ol' daddy, Dean here was thinking about... boy, you stop thinking about your girl in such lewd images," She slapped Dean over the head and my cheeks burned, Dean grinned and I fought a smile, "Stephanie herself is... clouded," She admitted, a frown creased her forehead and she looked over to me, my smile faded, "Girl, you got one dark self locked away in that pretty head of yours, you best be treading carefully." She warned and I rolled my eyes: I had no intention of letting Darquesse escape, besides, Dean and I had a promise.

"Anyway, where's our Dad? Is he ok?" Sam asked, pulling the conversation over to the problem at hand.

"I don't know." Missouri answered.

"Don't know?" Dean echoed and frowned, "You're supposed to be psychic, right?"

"Boy, you see me sawin' some bony tramp in half? You think I'm a magician? I may be able to read thoughts and sense energies in a room, but I can't just pull facts out of thin air. Sit, please." Her tone lightened and she indicated to three chairs that were positioned in the centre of the room, the boys sat down and I moved over, but stayed standing. "Boy, you put your foot on my coffee table, I'm 'a whack you with a spoon!" She suddenly snapped at Dean, her smile vanishing as quickly as it appeared.

"I didn't do anything." Dean protested and Missouri glared.

"But you were thinkin' about it." She answered, Dean glanced up at me for help but all I offered him was a smirk.

"Ok. So, our Dad – when did you first meet him?" Sam asked.

"He came for a reading. A few days after the fire. I just told him what was _really _out there in the dark. I guess you could say... I drew back the curtains for him." She answered, the three of us gave her another round of shocked looks but she didn't bat an eyelid.

"What about the fire? Do you know what killed our Mum?" Dean asked, leaning forward in his chair.

"A little. Your Daddy took me to your house. He was hopin' I could sense the echoes, the fingerprints of this thing." Missouri nodded slowly.

"And could you?" I asked, looking at the woman in sudden interest: she had such an... intriguing talent.

"I..." The woman trailed off with a shake of her head and I frowned.

"What was it?" Sam asked her.

"I don't know," Missouri answered in a soft tone, "Oh, but it sure was evil."

Sam glanced at Dean, his eyes wide and brimmed with fear. I glanced at the woman and stared at her for the longest of moments, trying to see if she was just over-.

"Stephanie, honey, I'm not over-exaggerating. So you can just stop with your thoughts right there." Missouri locked eyes with me and my mouth dropped open in surprise. She grinned wryly at me and then turned to the boys, "So... you think somethin' is back in that house?"

"Definitely." Sam nodded once in confirmation.

"I don't understand." The seer frowned, glancing down at the floor.

"What?" The younger Winchester leaned forward in his seat.

"I haven't been back inside, but I've been keepin' an eye on the place, and it's been quiet. No sudden deaths, no freak accidents. Why is it actin' up now?" She replied, glancing up at us.

"We don't know," Sam shrugged, but with Dad going missing and Jessica dying and now this house all happening at once... it just feels like something's starting."

"_That's_ a comforting thought." Dean muttered sarcastically.

We drove back to the boys' old house with Missouri, she sat in the back next to me but I didn't strike a conversation up with her: she bought a weird awkwardness with her and it settled in the air like a thick, unwelcome fog. Sam knocked on the door to the house and we waited patiently for Jenny to open it, when she did finally open it we were greeted with an exhausted lady, with red rimmed eyes and flustered red cheeks, she had her son balanced on her hip. "Sam, Dean, Stephanie," She forced a smile, "What are you going here?"

"Hey, Jenny. This is our friend, Missouri." Sam returned the girl a smile and gestured to the seer.

If it's not too much trouble, we were hoping to show her the old house. You know, for old time's sake." Dean said.

Jenny pulled a face and shifted her weight under Richie, "You know, this isn't a good time. I'm kind of busy."

"Listen, Jenny, it's important." Dean pressed, edging forward towards the door, Missouri sighed and smacked her hand over Dean's head again, "Ow!" He protested, turning to her with a pained expression.

"Give the poor girl a break, can't you see she's upset?" She chastened, then turned to Jenny with a bright smile on her face, "Forgive this boy, he means well, he's just not the sharpest tool in the shed. But hear me out." She tried, Dean rubbed the back of his head, stunned, and shot me a look. I shrugged helplessly in return then looked back at Jenny.

"About what?" Jenny looked at the seer suspiciously.

"About this house." Missouri replied.

"What are you talking about?" Jenny attempted a scoff, but it sounded feeble and strained, she glanced at Sam and I uneasily as she tightened her grip on her son.

"I think you know what I'm talking about. You think there's something in this house, something that wants to hurt your family. Am I mistaken?" Missouri asked her, her eyes hardened a little as she tried to convince the single mother.

"Who are you?" Jenny asked, narrowing her eyes.

"We're people who can help, who can stop this thing. But you're gonna have to trust us, just a little." The seer replied, unaffected by the suspicious look Jenny was giving her.

Jenny glanced at us again, her face still unsure. I thought she was going to turn us away but she held the door open and stepped aside, clutching her child in her hands, "Come on in." She told us, I nodded in thanks as we passed through. Missouri went straight for the stairs and climbed them, urgency in her pace. Sam glanced at Dean and I and then followed, leaving Jenny downstairs. I followed the boys until we reached a room painted in pastel pink and had a singe bed with a pink and white duvet and pillows, a mirror with pink and purple butterflies surrounding it was on top of a white painted dresser, a wardrobe was on the wall opposite the bed.

"If there's a dark energy around here, this room should be the centre of it." Missouri announced as we surveyed the bedroom.

"Why?" I asked her, frowning at the normality of it all: it was just a little girl's bedroom, nothing unusual.

"This used to be Sam's nursery. This is where it all happened." The woman answered, as if on instinct Sam glanced up at the ceiling, his eyes sad. Beside me Dean pulled out his EMF meter and turned it on, "That an EMF?" She asked him.

Dean nodded as he moved the meter out at arm's length, "Yeah."

"Amateur," She muttered scornfully, Dean whipped around and glared at her, I couldn't help but smirk, the EMF started beeping and Dean nudged me, my smirk disappeared as I looked down at the beeping meter, "I don't know if you boys should be disappointed or relieved, but this ain't the thing that took your Mum." Missouri muttered, her eyes were closed as her head slowly tilted as she turned on the spot in the room.

"Wait, are you sure?" Sam asked, looking at the seer imploringly, Missouri nodded in response, "How do you know?"

"It isn't the same energy I felt the last time I was here. It's somethin' different." Missouri replied, opening her eyes as she finished her answer.

"What is it?" I asked her, knowing she would probably ignore Dean if he asked.

"Not it," The seer said, walking over to the wardrobe and flinging open the doors, "Them. There's more than one spirit in this place."

"What are they doing here?" Dean asked her.

"They're here because of what happened to your family. You see: all those years ago, real evil came to you. It walked this house. That kind of evil leaves wounds, and sometimes... wounds get infected."Missouri explained, I glanced at the boys and saw that Sam was frowning.

"I don't understand." He said confusedly.

"This place is a magnet for paranormal energy. It's attracted a poltergeist – a nasty one. And it won't rest until Jenny and her babies are dead." Missouri answered, giving him a glance.

"But... you said there was more than one spirit." I pointed out.

"There is, I just can't quite make out the second one." She murmured, closing the wardrobe doors.

"Well, one thing's for damn sure – nobody's dying in this house ever again," Dean said firmly, "So whatever is here, how do we stop it?" He asked.

Back at Missouri's, Sam, Dean and I were sat around one of the seer's tables as she layed out different herbs and roots. "So what is all this stuff, anyway?" I asked, eyeing the different plants doubtfully.

"Angelica Root, Van Van oil, Crossroad dirt, a few other odds and ends." The psychic replied, pointing to each of the herbs in turn.

"Well, what are we supposed to do with it?" I asked her.

"We're gonna put them inside the walls in the north, south, east and west corners on each floor of the house." She explained.

Dean scoffed, "We'll be punching holes in the dry wall. Jenny's gonna _love _that." He rolled his eyes sarcastically at Missouri.

"She'll live." The seer replied slyly, looking at the older Winchester out of the corner of her eyes.

"And this'll destroy the spirits?" Sam asked, propping his elbows up on the table.

"It should," Missouri confirmed, "It should purify the house completely. Sam will take the ground, Dean and his girl'll take the second and I'll take the top. But we work fast, once the spirits realise what we're up to: things are gonna get bad."

The three of us watched from the doorway as Missouri walked Jenny and her kids outside, "Look, I'm not comfortable leaving you guys here alone." Jenny said, glancing back at us with an uncomfortable frown.

"Just take your kids to the movies or somethin', and it'll be over by the time you get back." The seer gave her an assuring smile as she practically shoved her out the gate. Jenny looked back at us again and I gave her a bright smile and a cheery wave. Missouri walked over to us and Sam handed her the toolbox, she opened it and took out two hammers. "Here ya go." She said, handing Sam the hammer and hefting her own one in a two-hand grip.

"Wait a second – what about ours?" Dean asked, frowning at the psychic.

"Well, I'm sure you don't need one. Your girl here'll punch through those walls with a little bit of that magic she got." Missouri responded, I shuddered slightly as we split up, when we reached the landing and the woman carried on upstairs I turned to Dean.

"She gives me the _creeps_." I told him in a hushed whisper, Dean cracked a smile.

"Yeah, me too. I don't know why she hates me so much – I've never met her in my life." Dean agreed with a shake of his head.

"Yeah, but most people hate you. I don't know why she has to go out of her way to make me so uncomfortable – everyone loves me." I shrugged.

"Sure, uh-huh. _Everyone _loves you." Dean rolled his eyes and pulled me in for a quick kiss, when we pulled apart I couldn't help but smile.

"Well, it worked on you, didn't it?" I giggled. The older Winchester faked a huge sigh and I saw a grin tugging at the ends of his mouth.

"Whatever. Come on, let's start with the north part." He suggested, wrapping his arm around my waist as he led me over to the far part of the second floor. Below us and above us there was a faint banging noise as Sam and Missouri broke through the walls. We reached the furthest wall and stopped at a point, "Go ahead." Dean pointed to a spot on the wall below a mirror. I drew in the shadows and gathered them around my fist, they curled and formed around my hand and I punched through the wall, my fist smashed through and the plaster crumbled. I smiled up at Dean and held out my hand for the herbs, he smiled back and his hand reached into his pocket. He suddenly crashed into me and we sprawled to the floor, I cried out in surprise as we slid and crashed against the skirting board. Dean scrambled up and grabbed a nearby coffee table.

"What are you doing?" I asked as he pulled the table towards us and positioned it to cover us, the sound of several things pining against the wood made me duck in instinct, when the bombarding subsided we both looked up cautiously. On the other side of the table a large amount of sharp kitchen knives had stabbed and pinned themselves on the table, completely covering the topside of the wood. We heard a crashing from downstairs and I glanced at Dean with fright, "Sam." I realised, concern flashed across Dean's features and he got to his feet, pulling me up and then sprinting towards the stairs, I followed hot on his heels as we clambered down to the ground floor. We found him downstairs lying on the kitchen floor weakly, a plug cord from a lamp was wrapped tightly around his throat.

"Sam!" Dean exclaimed, rushing over to him and trying to pry the cord off, but I saw how useless it was.

"Give me the herbs!" I demanded, holding my hand out, Dean turned and chucked the herbs towards me, his aim was off but I used the air to grab it, I then turned and used shadows to smash the wall, I flung the herb sack inside, there was a blinding white light and I raised my arm to sheild my eyes, the air shifted as I felt something fling frantically around the room. Suddenly the air stopped shifting wildly and I opened my eyes to find the light had faded, I whirled around to see Dean unravelling the cord gently from around his brother's neck and pulled him into a fierce hug. I sighed in relief and looked around the room to see the contents of the fridge had been spilled out over the white tile floor, broken bits of crockery littered the ground by the sink and a chair lay broken in the corner, even the curtains were shredded and torn. "Oh, wow." I muttered, looking back at the boys on the floor, Dean didn't let go of his brother but he looked up at me, I could see he couldn't care less what the state the kitchen was in.

Missouri joined us ten minutes later and we stood looking down at the mess of the room. "You sure this is over?" A much stronger Sam asked.

"I'm sure. Why? Why do you ask?" Missouri turned to Sam, for the first time ever she was frowning at him.

"Never mind," He sighed, "It's nothing, I guess."

Outside the room, a door shut and there were loud footsteps in the hallway, "Hello? We're home." Jenny called, the footsteps neared and she appeared in the doorway, her eyes widened as she looked around at the scene, "What happened?"

Sam and I exchanged a glance, "Hi, sorry. Um, we'll pay for all this." Sam stuttered.

"Don't you worry. Dean's gonna clean up this mess." Missouri told the distraught young mother, Dean stood there without a word and Missouri rolled her eyes at him, "Well, what are you waiting for, boy? Get the mop." She told him, swatting her hand in his direction. Dean sighed and walked out of the room, "And don't cuss at me!" She ordered, Dean stopped and muttered angrily under his breath before he exited the room, I caught Sam's eye and we shared a small smile.

Dean lasted two minutes of his cleaning until he started complaining, I lasted five minutes until I picked up a dustpan and brush and helped him sweep up the mess. Sam said he was still feeling light-headed after being almost choked to death to help clean, Dean promised we would punish him later. Jenny happily sent us away when the sun was starting to set, I was relieved to find the nearest motel and crash out with Dean, but Sam wanted us to stay and check to make sure everything was ok.

I eventually fell asleep in the backseat of the car after half an hour of watching the house with the boys, and then woke up two hours later. "Alright," Dean was saying, "So, tell me again: what are we still doing here?" He asked.

"I don't know. I just... I still have a bad feeling." Sam admitted, staring out the window at the house.

"Why? Missouri did her whole _Zelda Rubenstein _thing, the house should be clean, it should be over." Dean frowned.

"Yeah, well, probably. But I just wanna make sure, that's all." Sam shrugged, unaffected by his brother's strong glare.

"Yeah, but, problem is I could be sleeping with Steph in a bed right now." Dean sighed and I rolled my eyes.

"Thanks for _that _mental image." Sam groaned and I couldn't help but grin, Dean looked out the window and Sam looked out of his. I closed my eyes and settled down for another bout of sleep.

"Dean. Look, Dean!" He cried, I looked and saw Jenny screaming at a window upstairs, the three of us rushed out of the car and we ran towards the house. I sprinted past them and forced open the door with the air, we heard Jenny screaming upstairs and I ran towards the stairs, but Dean grabbed my shoulders and hauled me back.

"You and Sam grab the kids, I'll get Jenny." He ordered, without waiting for a reply he bounded up the stairs. I glanced at Sam and he grabbed my hand, leading me into the kitchen and pointing to Richie, we was jumping up and down and trying to break open the bars of his pen with his little hands, only there wasn't a cheery smile on his face this time: anguish was scrunching up his face as he raged against the bars. I ran to the pen and picked up the screaming child, he wriggled in my arms so I gave him to Sam.

"I'll drop him otherwise, Alice never wriggled like that!" I told him, heading out the kitchen and leading the way up the stairs towards Sari's bedroom, it was when I was halfway up the stairs that I realised what I had said. I mentally shook myself and continued up towards Sari's room, telling myself to attend at the pressing matters at hand. We burst into Sari's room to find her screaming incoherently, I left Sam at the doorway and grabbed Sari from her bed, picking her up in my arms.

"Don't look! Don't look!" I told her, whispering into her ear comfortingly, once we were in the hallway I set Sari down, Sam set Richie down next to her.

"Alright, Sari, take your brother outside as fast as you can, and don't look back." Sam told her, crouching down and looking at the girl with hard eyes. The air shifted behind us and I turned, expecting to see Dean and Jenny, but it was nothing, my eyes widened as the air shifted angrier and sharper. It suddenly snatched Sam and I from the air and pulled us back down the hallway, Sari screamed and ran off with Ritchie, it slammed Sam into the wall and I was thrown into the wall. I cracked up against it and I slumped to the floor painfully. I closed my eyes against the pain and when I reopened them, Sam was pinned up against the wall, unable to move.

"Sam!" I called weakly, my voice sounded distant and there was a ringing in my ears. I raised my hand and tried to use the air to prise him from the wall, but before I could motion to use the air the force slammed me sideways and into the wall beside Sam, I groaned as I felt my shoulder crunch and tried to move, but it was all in vain. The flame figure suddenly appeared and began to walk towards us, Sam was frowning at it whilst I was still struggling against the force, Dean suddenly burst into the room and aimed his gun at the fiery silhouette.

"No, don't! Don't" Sam suddenly called out to his brother.

"What, why?!" Dean frowned at Sam.

"Yeah, Sam! If you hadn't noticed we're pinned up against a wall and about to die!" I shouted, but Sam shook his head.

"Because I know who it is. I can see her now." Sam replied, suddenly, the fire vanished and a blonde woman in a white nightdress was stood there, she had big blue eyes and soft features. I glanced at Dean just as he was lowering his gun, a look of shock haunted his features.

"Mum?" Dean asked, his tone hollow, the woman smile and stepped over to her oldest son.

"Dean," She said, her voice full of emotion and warmth, tears formed in his eyes as Mary walked away from him and over to where Sam and I were still pinned up against the wall. Dean watched her, his eyes not leaving her. "Sam." She said, her blue gaze falling upon her youngest, Sam smiled weakly and tears fell down his cheeks, she then turned to me, "And Stephanie. I'm so happy to meet you," She told me, I managed to nod once, her smile faded as she looked back at Dean. "I'm sorry."

"For what?" Sam asked, mother Winchester glanced at Sam sadly but didn't respond, she walked close to me and leaned in to my ear.

"Please don't become _her_, and please protect my boys." She whispered, pulling away from me, I stared at the woman in shock but managed a weak smile.

"I will." I told her, she smiled back and walked back into the centre of the room and looked up at the ceiling.

"You get out of my house, and let go of my son and the girl." She said in a stern voice, then she was engulfed in flames and they roared and leapt up to the ceiling, the force suddenly disappeared and Sam and I slumped to the floor, there was a stabbing pain in my shoulder as I got up and tried to move it.

"Now it's over." Sam told us, I didn't say anything and leant against the wall tiredly.

"Steph, your shoulder." Dean looked at me and I nodded slowly.

"I know, I think it's dislocated." I groaned and pushed myself away from the wall, giving them a faint smile, "Anyone got any idea how to put it back?" I asked, Sam nodded and walked over to me, carefully peeling my jacket off, revealing my black skintight tunic underneath.

"Right on three, ok?" Sam asked, carefully putting his hands on my left shoulder.

"Ok, go." I told him, squeezing my eyes shut.

"Right, one-." Sam suddenly snapped it back into place and I cried out arching my back as I stepped away from him.

"Cheers." I groaned as I tested my left shoulder carefully, "Right, motel. Now." I told them, and walked out the room without another word.

Dean was stood with Jenny at his car whilst Sam and I were sat at the steps of the front porch in silence, my jacket was scrunched up in my lap as the sun rays warmed us. There were creaking footsteps and Missouri joined us, sitting down next to me. "Well, there are no spirits in there anymore, this time for sure." She said.

"Not even my Mum?" Sam asked.

"No." She shook her head, Sam sighed sadly.

"What happened?" I asked the psychic.

"Their Mum's spirit and the poltergeist's energy, they cancelled each other out. Their Mum destroyed herself goin' after the thing." She answered.

"But why? Why would she do something like that?" Sam asked, a frown on his features.

"Well, to protect her boys, of course... and Stephanie too." She shrugged, Mary Winchester's last words to me came up to my mind and I stiffened a little, Missouri's gaze switched to me and she narrowed her eyes at me, tilting her head slightly. I looked away and down at the ground, Missouri sighed and I felt her gaze move away from me, "Sam, I'm sorry." She said,

"For what?" Sam asked.

"You sensed it was here, didn't you? Even when I couldn't." Missouri observed.

"What's happening to me?" He replied, I could hear the slight waver of desperation in his tone.

"I know I should have all the answers, but I don't know." Missouri answered.

"Hey, you two ready?" Dean called, he way halfway down the path, Sam and I nodded and we got up from the porch. Sam walked away and I went to follow, but Missouri grabbed my hand.

"Now, Stephanie, I just heard in your head what Mary told you before she left. You followin'?" She asked.

"Uh-huh." I nodded, staring at a spot on the ground.

"Now, you best be heedin' those words." She said, I looked at her and forced a smile.

"I will." I told her again, I swear I saw her eyes narrow at me but she let go of my hand all the same, I quickly left her on the porch and met Sam and Dean at the car with Jenny. She pulled me into a tight hug.

"Thank you so much for helping to save Richie and Sari, Stephanie." She told me, I smiled at her and gave a shrug when I pulled away.

"Well, it was nothing really." I shrugged, but Jenny shook her head.

"Saving my babies isn't just nothing." Jenny rolled her eyes and I laughed.

"Well, they're great. You take good care of them, won't you." I looked at her and she nodded.

"I will." She smiled again and I stepped over to Dean, he grinned and pulled me into a hug and a light kiss.

"Hey." He said and I grinned.

"Hey." I replied, he laughed and kissed me again.

"Oh God, do I have to endure a whole car journey of this?" Sam moaned and I broke off the kiss and smirked.

"Yes." I laughed, Sam rolled his eyes in response.

"Don't you kids be strangers." Missouri called from the gate, Dean actually cracked a smile and waved.

"We won't." Dean replied.

"See you around." The seer answered, Jenny gave us a parting wave and we got in the car and drove off.

_Missouri's house – General P.O.V_

Missouri walked in and set her purse down onto one of her ornate tables, "That boy... he has such powerful abilities. But why he couldn't sense his own father, I have no idea." She sighed and looked at John Winchester, who was sat on the sofa.

"Mary's spirit – do you really think she saved the boys?" John asked the psychic.

"I do. And not just the boys – there's a girl with them, Stephanie." She told him.

John's head snapped up, "Who? Who is she?" He demanded.

"She's just a girl, she knows what she's doing, don't you worry. They're a good team, helping out eachother and whatnot," Missouri told him, John nodded, but he wasn't convinced, he nervously twisted the wedding band on his finger and Missouri sighed, "John Winchester, I could just slap you. Why won't you go to your children?" She asked.

"I want to," John answered tearfully, "You have no idea how much I wanna see 'em. But I can't, not yet. Not until I know the truth."

"That girl though – you better watch yourself when you go to your boys. Stephanie has an unimaginable extent of power, she's a ticking doom bomb, that's for sure." Missouri frowned.

"So... You're saying we should kill her?" John asked, looking up at the seer.

"You know what you need to do, John." Missouri gave him a look.

_Valkyrie's P.O.V_

I stared out the window as Dean drove away from Lawrence quickly, thinking about what Mary had said to me before she destroyed herself for us. "So, Steph... who's Alice?" Sam broke me out of my thoughts and I was bought back to the car.

"Huh?" I asked.

"When we were saving the kids from the house, and you grabbed Richie, he was wriggling like crazy and you handed him to me and said: 'I'll drop him otherwise, Alice never wriggled like that'. Who's Alice?" He asked, I stared at him for a few moments before I sighed.

"Alice is... was... my little sister, she's only about Richie's age. Whenever I had a chance to spend time with her she was so... so _great_. I was... good at what I did back home, a good partner, a good sister and daughter. I could juggle the normal, and then I could juggle the _ab_normal, you know?" I answered.

There was a pause.

"I didn't know you had a sister." Sam said quietly.

"_Have_. She still exists. I just don't exist in the same world with her anymore." I corrected sadly, going back to staring out at the window in a sombre silence.

**Author's Note: I'm truly sorry about this late update! I started Year 11 and it's basically the most important year of my educational career. So... yeah I really love writing this story, I just need to learn how to juggle revision and homework and writing... oh, and that social life that I have. Right, anyway... You know the drill (I hope), let's say... 60 reviews till my next update? See ya then! Oh and before I forget: Tell me your thoughts on The Dying Of The Light too, I want to see if our opinions varied at all.**


	10. Chapter 10

**Author's Note: Thank you all again for your lovely reviews! In response to one: I absolutely _loved _TDOL, after I read the final page I closed the book, got up from the sofa and ran into the nearest empty room to cry. And before you all ask, yes it was embarrassing to cry over a book. But I have no shame; those books were a big influence on my childhood.**

Winchester and Cain

Chapter 10 – Asylum

_Valkyrie's P.O.V_

"No, Dad was in California last we heard from him. We just thought... he comes to you for ammunitions... maybe you've seen him in the last few weeks. Just, call us if you hear anything." Sam paused as a voice replied on the speaker. "Thanks." Sam gave a small smile but it didn't last, he sighed when he hung up. Dean and I watched him from the table, we were in one of the worst motel rooms we had been in yet, the wallpaper was flaky and an ugly, dull olive colour, the carpet was ratty and the thread was frayed. Still, at least there were no bugs in this one.

"Caleb hasn't heard from him?" Dean asked as Sam pocketed his mobile.

"Nope. And neither has Pastor Jim or Jefferson. What about the journal? Any leads in there?" Sam asked, looking at the journal that lay open in front of me.

"No, same as last time we looked. There's nothing I can make out... I know you guys love him, but I swear, he writes like freaking Yoda." I sighed and pushed the book away from me, Dean smiled a little at the comment.

"I've been thinking... maybe we should call the Feds, file a missing person's." Sam suggested, sitting on the bed nearest to the table.

"We've all talked about this: Dad'd be pissed if we put the Feds on his tail." Dean sighed and shook his head in disagreement.

"I don't care anymore." Sam shrugged.

"Maybe Sam has a point, Dean. Your Dad's been missing for three months now." I pointed out, Dean turned and gave me a look, but I held his gaze evenly, "You said you called him whilst we were in Kansas, well, where is he?"

"Steph's right: after all that happened back in Kansas, I mean: he should've been there, Dean. You said so yourself. You tried to call him and... nothing." Sam added, a mobile phone began to ring and Dean got up and walked across the room to find it.

"I know!" He snapped as he rummaged through his rucksack, "Where the hell is my cellphone?"

"You know," Sam continued, "He could be dead for all we know."

"Don't say that! He's not dead! He's – he's..." Dean trailed off and started yanking out clothes and weapons from his rucksack whilst the phone continued to ring.

"He's what? He's hiding? He's _busy_?" Sam asked scornfully. Dean ignored him as the mobile's ringing cut off, he sighed irritably when he pulled it out.

"Number was blocked, I don't know who it was." Dean rubbed his eyes tiredly as he looked at the screen, his hand dropped away from his face as he read something.

"Huh. I don't believe it." He murmured, shaking his head as a disbelieving smile spread across his face.

"Don't believe what? What is it?" I asked, looking at him in confusion.

"It was a, uh... a phone call and then a text message. The text shows coordinates." Dean answered, hurrying back to the table and opening the laptop that lay there on charge.

"You think it's Dad texting us?" Sam asked him as Dean typed frantically onto the keys.

"He's given us coordinates before." Dean shrugged, not taking his eyes off the laptop screen.

Sam raised an eyebrow, "The man can barely work a _toaster_, Dean." He said.

"Guys, it's good news! It means he's ok, or alive at least." Dean replied.

"But you said the number was blocked, Dean, wouldn't he wanna talk to you two after all this time?" I argued.

Dean didn't reply.

"Well, where do the coordinates point?" Sam asked, breaking the pause.

"That's the interesting part: Rockford, Illinois." Dean replied this time, looking at his brother excitedly.

"Ok, and that's interesting how?" Sam frowned.

"I checked the local Rockford paper. Take a look at this." Dean explained, turning around the laptop screen and showing us a news article, "So this cop, Walter Kelly, comes home from his shift, shoots his wife, then puts the gun in his mouth – blows his brains out." Dean explained whilst we looked at a photograph of a man in his mid thirties.

"Lovely." I grimaced.

"And earlier that night, Kelly and his partner responded to a call at the Roosevelt Asylum." Dean continued, Sam looked up at him.

"Ok, I'm not following. What has this got to do with us?" The younger Winchester asked.

"Roosevelt Asylum," I echoed, "That sounds familiar..." I trailed off and looked back at the journal that lay out on the table, "It's been written in there."

"Yep, Dad earmarked the same asylum in the journal." Dean nodded, I gestured and the journal flew into my awaiting hand, I opened it and flicked through the pages.

"Let's see..." I murmured, skimming over the text, "Here. Seven unconfirmed sightings, two deaths – till last week at least. I think this is where your Dad wants us to go." I tapped the page and gave it to Dean.

"This is a job," Sam snorted, "Dad wants us to work a job."

"Well, maybe we'll meet up with him? Maybe he's there." Dean reasoned, his tone hopeful.

I exchanged an uncertain glance with Sam, "Maybe he's not? I mean, your Dad could be sending us there, by ourselves to hunt this thing." I pointed out.

Dean flared up, "Who cares! If he wants us there, it's good enough for me!" His shouts echoed around the room and his words hung heavy in the air.

"This doesn't strike you as weird? The texting?" Sam asked.

"The phonecalling?" I added.

"The coordinates?" Sam finished, Dean's gaze shifted from Sam and I and he slammed his hand down on the table, demanding a silence.

"Guys! Dad's telling us to go somewhere, we're _going_." Dean finalised and got up from his seat, walking over to the bed where his rucksack lay, "Pack your things, we're leaving ASAP." I caught Sam's eye and he shrugged.

Dean drove faster than he had ever driven before, carelessly speeding down the highways and cutting past angry drivers, his music blaring as loud as it would go. We arrived in Rockford at around nine at night and we hit the first bar we came to. Sam and I hung back as Dean approached a man who sat a little way away from the other patrons, his left hand was wrapped tightly around his drink, "You're Daniel Gunderson. You're a cop, right?" Dean said as he walked over.

"Yeah." The man replied, not looking at Dean.

"Hi. I'm, uh, Nigel Tufnel, The Chicago Tribune. Mind if I ask you a few questions, about your partner?" Dean asked him.

The man looked up at him now, his eyes were narrowed guardedly, "Yeah, I do. I'm just tryna have a beer here."

"That's ok, I swear it won't take that long. I just want to get the story in your words." Dean pressed.

"A week ago, my partner was sitting in that chair. Now he's dead. You gonna ambush me _here_?" Daniel exclaimed.

"Sorry, but I need to know what happened." Dean shrugged, unaffected.

"Right, let's do it." Sam said, his voice only loud enough for me to hear, I nodded and we walked over to where Dean and Daniel were, Sam stormed over to his brother and shoved him away roughly, a fake look of rage upon his face that looked so, so real. "Hey buddy, why don't you leave the poor guy alone! The man's an officer! Why dontcha show a little respect." Sam roared, Dean stared at the two of us for a moment, and then he walked away.

"You didn't have to do that." Daniel looked at us gratefully.

"Of course he did," I gave him a smile, "That guy's a serious jerk." I raised my voice, using the word Sam had taught me and making it loud enough so Dean could hear from the other side of the room.

"She's right, guys like that are just morons. Let me buy you a beer, huh?" Sam shrugged, then turned to the barman, "Three?" He asked, holding up three fingers.

"Thanks." The officer smiled thankfully at us and we took two seats at the table with him.

We exited the bar twenty minutes later and found Dean leaning against the hood of his beloved car, "Shoved me kinda hard in there, buddy boy." He frowned at his brother.

"I had to sell it, didn't I? It's method acting." Sam shrugged.

"Huh?" Dean gave us a vacant look.

Sam rolled his eyes, "Never mind." He sighed, Dean looked at me, his eyes reflected with hurt and playfulness.

"I loved the use of jerk, by the way." He smirked and I shrugged.

"Sam taught me it, I'm glad you heard it, you really _are _a jerk." I grinned and Dean rolled his eyes.

"I am not, besides, if I am," Dean suddenly pulled me in close, his hands snaking round my waist, my back to him as I felt his warm breath in my ear, "That means you like that I'm a jerk." His voice sounded and I folded into him, unable to keep the smile from my face as Dean traced soothing patterns with his fingers on my waist.

"Guys, I'm stood right here." Sam frowned at us.

Even though I couldn't see it, I could tell Dean was rolling his eyes, "Oh, come on. It's nothing you haven't seen before."

"Yeah, and everytime I see it I wanna throw up." Sam retorted, glaring at his older brother. Dean sighed and arm reluctantly unwrapped from my waist as he stepped away from me, although the warmth from his fingers still lingered in my hair and on my waist.

I shivered against the cold air slightly and cleared my throat forcefully, "Right, we found out Walter Kelly was a good cop. Head of his class, got on well with everyone – he had a bright future ahead of him."

"What about at home?" Dean asked.

"He and his wife had a few fights," Sam shrugged, taking over, "Like everybody, but he was mostly smooth sailing. They were even talking about having kids."

"Right, so either Kelly had some deep-seated crazy waiting to bust out, or something else did it to him." Dean nodded slowly, "What'd Gunderson tell you about the asylum?" He asked.

Sam and I exchanged a look, "A lot." We said.

It was only a short drive to Roosevelt Asylum, and soon the three of us were clearing the tall, rusted chain linked fence of the Asylum and entering the abandoned building. The interior of the Asylum wasn't much better than the exterior: almost all of the windows had been smashed open, but the old metal bars remained vigilantly on the sills, preventing anyone's escape attempt. The inside of the building looked like a hurricane had torn through it, leaving chaos in it's wake: tables and beds were flipped over and furniture had broken, contents on trays had spilled out across the floor, dirty bedsheets were shredded and littered across the floor. "So apparently the cops chased the kids here... into the south wing." Sam explained to Dean, clicking on his torch and shining the beam over a sign on the dusty, concrete wall:

**SOUTH WING**

"South wing, huh?" Dean echoed, glancing up at the fading sign, I clicked my fingers and caught a spark, the flame flickered brilliantly in my right palm against the bitter gloom of the cold Asylum, I glanced once more at the mess and then back to the boys, Dean was flicking through the pages of their Dad's journal, "'1972. Three kids broke into the south wing, only one survived.' Way he tells it, one of his friends went nuts and started lighting up the place."

"So whatever's going on, the south wing is the heart of it." I muttered.

"But if the kids are breaking into the asylum, why aren't there a ton more deaths?" Sam wondered, I felt the air shift faintly to my right and I whipped around, my eyes narrowed as I searched the area where I had felt something, I saw a side door and saw the dark outline of a broken chained tied to the door.

"Looks like the doors are usually chained. Could've been chained up for years." I noted.

"Yeah, to keep people out. Or to keep something in." Dean responded, we shared a long stare at eachother whilst Sam walked over and pushed against the door, it creaked and groaned, dust billowed out as it slowly swung open, revealing a dark, dilapidated hallway. We walked through the door and stepped down the hallway in unease, "Let me know if you see any dead people, _Hayley Joel_." Dean smirked at his brother.

Sam gave Dean a bored glance, "Dude. Enough."

"I'm serious," Dean pressed, "You gotta be careful, alright? Ghosts are attracted to that whole ESP thing you have going on."

"I told you, it's not ESP!" Sam sighed, "I just have strange vibes sometimes. Weird dreams."

"Yeah, whatever," Dean shrugged, "Don't ask, don't tell."

"Guys: just shut _up_." I hushed them, my gaze looking out for anything that could jump out and possibly kill us slasher-style.

"You get a reading on that thing or not?" Sam asked, breaking the silence and looking at Dean.

"Nope, of course – it doesn't mean no one's home." Dean sighed, checking his homemade EMF meter.

"Spirits can't appear during certain hours of the day." Sam stated and I glanced at him with a frown.

"How could you possibly know that?" I asked him in confusion.

Sam opened his mouth to answer but Dean beat him to it, "Here's the thing: Bigfoot here is our own little not-40-year-old-but-virgin." He smirked and clapped his brother on the shoulder, Sam shot him a death glare and I waited until he turned away until I allowed the awaiting smile to spill over my face.

"I hate you, Dean." Sam muttered grumpily and Dean chuckled.

"Aww, don't be like that, Sammy. Lighten up." He tried to reason and Sam sighed in defeat, "Anyway, you _are _right: the freaks come out at night."

"Yeah." Sam said in an off-hand tone.

Dean clicked his tongue and I went back to watching the flame in my hand cast dancing shadows along the walls, "Hey Sam, who do you think is the hotter psychic: _Patricia Arquette, Jennifer Love-Hewitt_, or you?" He dead panned and I burst out laughing, Sam huffed annoyedly and his pace increased. Dean shrugged at me and I rolled my eyes, but a grin tugged the ends of my mouth, we walked in silence until we reached another old, aged door, Dean reached forward and pushed the door open.

The door revealed another room like the first one, various medical contents were strewn across the dusty floor, the furniture was tipped over and smashed violently. Dean whistled as we surveyed the scene, "Man. Electro-shock, lobotomies... They did some twisted stuff to these people. Kinda like my man Jack in _Cuckoo's Nest_." He made his eyes wide and crazy looking as he shot Sam and I manic grin, but we both ignored it and shone our lights to take a closer look at the equipment.

"So, what do you guys think? Ghost possession?" I asked, crouching down and looking at a suspicious greying liquid in rusting syringes.

"Maybe," Sam shrugged in response, "Or maybe it's more Amityville, or the Smurl hunting."

"Yeah, I don't know what any of that means." I gave a small smile, standing back up.

"Spirits driving them insane. Kinda like my man Jack in _The Shining_." Dean grinned at us again and Sam rolled his eyes.

"Dean," Sam called, and his brother looked up, "When are we going to talk about it?"

"Talk about what?" Dean asked, "My man Jack?" He smirked.

"About the fact Dad's not here." Sam answered.

Dean's smile faded, "Oh. I see. How 'bout... never."

"I'm being serious, man. He sent us here..." Sam trailed off and looked away as his brother frowned.

"So am I, Sam. Look, he sent us here. He obviously wants us here. We'll pick up the search later." Dean tried to end the conversation hastily.

"It doesn't matter what he wants." Sam replied.

"See — that attitude? Right there? That is why I always get the extra cookie." Dean sighed and shook his head at Sam.

"Dad could be in trouble, we should be looking for him. We deserve some answers, Dean. I mean, this is our family we're talking about." Sam tried to reason with his brother.

s

"I understand that, Sam. But he's given us an order." Dean said, narrowing his eyes at him. I looked away, suddenly feeling the heavy tension in the atmosphere between the brothers.

"So what, we gotta always follow Dad's orders?" Sam asked sceptically.

Dean looked at Sam like he was crazy, "Of course we do." He nodded angrily, Sam shot Dean a frustrated look, but he turned away from him, giving the conversation an abrupt end. "'Sanford Ellicott'," Dean said, I turned and saw he was reading a battered old sign with a name on it, "We gotta find out more about the south wing, see if something happened here." He walked away as Sam and I inspected the discarded sign, Sam stared down at the sign with narrowed eyes, his jaw clenched.

I sighed as Dean walked from the room, making his way back to where we came in, "Come on, Sam. Let's get out of here." I told him, Sam sighed and nodded, and we exited from the room and followed Dean.

Dean and I were leaning against the slightly tinted glass windows of the hospital, Sam had offered to go into the psychiatric clinic to talk to Dr. Ellicott, and he had asked to be alone. Dean and I had shrugged and allowed him to go in alone, but I was soon regretting the decision: there was nothing to do outside whilst Sam was inside doing the important part of the work. "I'm bored." I sighed and looked at the older Winchester, he was staring off into the distant and looking deep in thought.

After a moment he turned to me, "Huh?"

"Bored. I'm bored." I repeated.

"Well, we opted for Sammy going in on the inside alone, what do you want me to do about it." Dean shrugged.

I opened my mouth and closed it: he was right, Sam was in a hospital in a psychiatric ward posing as a client, and he was probably having more fun than we were. "I hate being bored." I muttered grumpily, fidgeting and taking my jacket off, letting the sun rays fall on my bare arms. I stretched and closed my eyes, arching my back and holding the pose, enjoying the satisfaction stretching gave.

I sighed and opened my eyes slowly, running a hand through my hair and moving some of it from my face, "What's that made of?" Dean suddenly asked, I glanced at him and saw he was looking curiously at the jacket folded over my arms.

"It's made from a special material, I don't know the name of it." I shrugged lazily, Dean held his hand out and I reluctantly handed it to him: that jacket had saved my lives countless of times, and I didn't plan on losing it any time soon.

"What's so special about it? You never take it off." Dean asked, glancing up at me.

"It's armoured, protects me from bullets and hits and stuff, it's saved my lives so many times." I explained as Dean ran his hand over the black material.

"Oh yeah, you said a while back it was protective..." Dean murmured as he studied the coat closely, "Who made it for you?" He asked as I held my hand out, I took it back and folded it over my arm.

"A friend." I responded in a cryptic tone.

"Gee, thanks for the specific answer." Dean rolled his eyes, I broke into a small smile at his complaint and gave a half-hearted shrug.

"What's the point of saying his name? He was a friend. He made me this outfit. I'm never going to see him again." I replied, Dean's frown softened and I turned away, squeezing my eyes shut as I shrugged the jacket on.

"Listen, Steph-." Dean started, but the doors burst open and Sam walked straight out at a quickened pace, he passed us and we hurried to catch up to him. "Dude! You were in there forever. What the hell were you talking about?" He looked at his brother as we walked across the road, pausing to allow a few vehicles to pass by us like angry charged bullets.

"Just the hospital, you know." Sam shrugged, his comment short and off-hand, I glanced at Dean and he frowned.

"And..?" I pressed as we began to cross the road, Sam's pace was still fast-tempered.

"And the south wing? It's where they housed the really hard cases. The psychotics, the criminally insane." Sam answered ad Dean scoffed loudly.

"Sounds cosy." He muttered, rolling his eyes.

"Yeah," Sam agreed with a thin smile, "And get this: one night in '64, they rioted. Attacked staff, attacked eachother."

"Lovely." I sighed as we reached the pavement and began walking down it, the car was parked a little way up ahead, the sunlight glared off the windscreen, even from this distance.

"Yeah, sounds like they had their own little tea party. Did they just take over the whole asylum or..." Dean responded, glancing up at his older brother.

"Apparently." Sam shrugged again.

"Were there any deaths?" I asked.

"Some patients, some staff. I guess it was pretty gory. Some of the bodies were never recovered, including our chief of staff, Ellicott." Sam answered and it was my turn to frown.

"Wait, what do you mean, 'never recovered'?" I asked, Sam slowed his pace and we came to a stop in the warm sunlight.

"Cops scoured every inch of the place but I guess the patients must've... stuffed the bodies somewhere hidden." The younger Winchester answered, there was a brief silence and I exchanged a disgusted look with Dean.

"That's grim." Dean wrinkled his nose.

Sam nodded, "Yeah," He agreed, "So: they transferred all the remaining patients, and closed the hospital down." We started walking again, only several steps away from where Dean's car was parked, amusingly he had parked it as far away from anyone else's in order to reduce the damage rate.

"So, in summary: we've got a load of violent deaths and a bunch of unrecovered bodies." I finalised.

"And several angry spirits." Sam nodded.

"Good times," Dean faked a smile and sighed as we reached the car, "Let's check out the hospital tonight."

We entered the asylum the same way we did last time, Sam led the way in and pushed open the old rotting door, Dean and I followed close behind. As we walked into the same dust-covered, mess-filled room Sam pulled out his video camera and a torch, Dean switched his EMF meter on and it beeped once, I clicked my fingers as Dean turned on the spot, surveying the room. The beeping was rapidly breaking through the silence, Sam and I looked at him.

"Getting readings?" I asked him with a smile.

"Yeah, big time." Dean responded, frowning as he looked down at the meter.

"This place is orbing like crazy." Sam muttered, shining his torch at the overturned furniture and strewn out papers.

"Probably multiple spirits out and about." The older Winchester shrugged.

"And if these uncovered bodies are causing the haunting..." Sam speculated, trailing off in thought.

It was silent as the realisation hit us all in the dark, "Right," Dean took charge, "We gotta find 'em and burn 'em. We need to be careful though, the only thing that makes me more nervous than a pissed off spirit... is the pissed off spirit of a psycho killer." Sam and I exchanged a look and we resumed walking, going through a doorway and found ourselves in front of two ramshackled doors. "Right, we split up. Sam go left, me and Steph'll go right." He said, Sam didn't say anything and stepped through to the left, Dean and I went right.

The room we entered was just as dead as the last, there were several dark stains on the walls and the floor that looked suspiciously like blood, I didn't take a closer look to see if I was right. Beside me Dean sighed as his torch beam shone over the mess that filled the room, he turned to me and opened his mouth but was cut off by a sharp call.

"Dean?! Steph!" We heard Sam's panicked shouts and raced out of the room, we tore into the adjourning room to find Sam stood frozen as an old woman walked towards her. Her hair was white, wild and wiry, her left eye was bloody and hung half out and dried as it swung under her dark eye socket. I clicked my fingers and threw fire at it, but it passed through her harmlessly, I narrowed my eyes and snapped my palms out, the air shimmered and the woman staggered back, her head cocked and she looked at me blankly.

"Shotgun!" I screamed to Dean, he wasted no time in rummaging through his rucksack and pulling out his gun.

"Get down!" He barked the order to Sam and he threw himself to the ground, Dean aimed and wasted no time in firing three shots, they hit the woman and she dissipated into the air.

"Well, that was weird." Sam breathed, glancing around the room before looking at Dean and I.

I exchanged a look with Dean, "Yeah, you're telling us." I chuckled, shaking my head as a small disbelieving smile appeared on my face.

"No, guys, I mean it was weird that she didn't attack me." Sam shook his head.

"Looked pretty aggro from where I was standing." Dean frowned.

"What do you mean, 'she didn't attack me'." I said at the same time.

"Then I guess it's not what it looked like. She didn't hurt me, she didn't even try!" Sam protested and I narrowed my eyes at him.

"So... if she didn't in fact try and hurt you... what did she want?" I asked, looking at the youngest Winchester in confusion.

Sam merely shrugged and shines his torch around the room once more, I clicked my fingers and summoned another flame, mainly using it to keep my hand warm and use Sam's torch beam for light. Dean rubbed his eyes tiredly and gave a long sigh, "Ok, there's no use to us standing in an empty room, lets search elsewhere." He said, I nodded and followed the boys as we exited the dark room. We trudged down yet another dusty corridor – lit only by Sam's torch beam and the soft, warm glow of my flame, as we passed another room there was a noise, like the noise of metal across the floor, we froze and whirled towards the sound. Sam pointed to the door and we crept up to it, my hand found the handle and it turned with a small creak, I eased it open carefully, making sure it didn't smash against the adjourning wall. We were met with another patient's room, it matched all the others in untidiness, the room was fairly bare, save for a simple single bed with a rusted and bent frame, it was tipped on it's side—the ragged and torn bed sheet was clinging on to the edge, fighting to cover the mattress. I narrowed my eyes at the bed as Sam and Dean entered the room behind me, Dean had his gun raised and ready to fire at anything that moved, once they reached me Sam tapped me. I looked back at him and he motioned for me to inspect the bed, I frowned and pointed to him, the boys exchanged a look and simultaneously shoved me towards the bed, I glared daggers at them both and rolled my eyes. I reached the bed and saw a blonde covered head crouched the other side, and the figure was breathing quietly, I reached out and gave the mattress a short, sharp push. The bed groaned and heaved onto all four of its legs with a screech, the figure jumped up and I raised my hand, ready to throw a fireball if the ghost attacked. The figure turned and I was met with a girl around my age, definitely not a ghost. My own eyes widened and I quickly let the flame in my hand go out, backing up to the boys as the girl moved out from behind the bed.

She took quick, panicked breaths and regarded us with wary brown eyes, "It's alright," I assured her, giving her a small smile, "It's ok," I repeated in a clear voice as her breathing got louder, "What's your name?"

"Katherine." The girl breathed, then she frowned, "Kat." She corrected.

"I'm Dean, this is Sam and that's Steph." Dean replied, his gun down by his side and a warm smile on his face.

"What are you doing here?" Sam asked her.

"Um... My boyfriend, Gavin." She answered with a shrug.

"Is he here with you?" I asked.

"Somewhere," She shrugged, "He thought it would be fun, try and see some ghosts. I thought it was all just... you know, pretend. But, but I've seen things. I heard Gavin scream and..." She trailed off and put the her hands over her face, I rolled my eyes at the boys and forced another smile on my face.

"Ok, uh, Kat?" The girl looked up at me with teary eyes, "Come on. Sam here's gonna get you out of here and then we're going to find your boyfriend." I told her.

"No! No. I'm not going to leave without Gavin. I'm coming with you." She shook her head stubbornly, I frowned and stepped over to her.

"Right, Kat? I'm gonna lay it down for you," I put my hand on the teenager's shoulder, "Because you guys decided to break in and trespass in a haunted asylum, we have to find your boyfriend as well as finish whatever we came here to do. Because of you and Gavin, we have to babysit, and don't you think it would be better for everyone here to just go home?" I frowned and shook my head, Kat looked at me with surprised eyes, the tears no longer in them.

There was a long and uncomfortable silence.

"Oh, wow." Dean rolled his eyes and pulled me away from the girl, "Steph, can I talk to you over there for a sec?" He asked in a forced tone.

I frowned in confusion, "Why?"

"You'll see. Sam, take over." He ordered, dragging me away from Sam and Kat, he didn't say anything until we were out in the corridor, "What the hell is wrong with you?" He demanded.

I looked at him in complete and utter confusion, "What did I do?"

"Where do I start?" He scoffed, "Do you have any tact whatsoever? That girl in there went in here with her _boyfriend_, it's gonna take a lot more than some girl telling her to leave him and go home."

I narrowed my eyes and crossed my arms, "That's exactly what she needed to be told," I argued in a hushed whisper, "We would have passed by that room and then a ghost would have killed her unless she hadn't made a noise. If we just let her tag along she could get killed, or worse – one of us killed!"

"If she wants to come, she can come with us. Just tell me this: if the roles were reversed, would you leave one us in there and allow yourself to be taken out on the sidelines?" He asked.

I opened my mouth to make a sharp retort but it died on my tongue, and I just glared in response and snatched the handgun from the holster on his belt, angrily snapping the safety off. "Fine. But something happens to us because of her, it's on you." I scoffed and left him out in the hallway, alone. I smiled thinly as I stepped back into the room, "So, I guess you're coming with us, Kat. How are we going to do this?"

"We're gonna split up, me and Sam'll take one wing, you and Kat can take the other. Ring us if you find anything." Dean announced behind me as he entered the room, I gritted my teeth upon hearing the plan but decided against protesting.

I checked through the rooms quickly and quietly, not making a sound as I checked behind the desks and beds, even in the dressers and closets. Kat had a tendency to dawdle behind me, complaining about the cold and even kicked some broken pieces of furniture glumly, I tried to ignore it and held the torch Sam had given us in a death grip. The third time she did it, I turned and gave her a forced smile, remembering Dean's words. "Um, hey, Kat?" I asked.

"Yeah?"

"I have just one question for you, you've seen a lot of horror films, yeah?" I stopped, she looked down at the ground and shrugged.

"I guess so." She responded with an air of nonchalance.

"Do me a favour. Next time you see one? Pay attention. When someone says a place is haunted – don't go in!" I exclaimed, Kat went red slightly and shivered, I sighed and took off my jacket, slipping it from my shoulders and reluctantly handing it to her, "Here, this'll keep you warm."

Kat stared at me for a moment before taking the jacket, quickly slipping it on her shoulders and giving me a smile, "Thanks."

"Don't mention it." I replied dully, turning away from her.

"I mean, really, thank you-."

"No, seriously, don't mention it. Because that jacket means a lot to me, so don't lose it." I gave her a hard stare and she nodded obediently. We walked onwards and she didn't dawdle, and made sure to see where she was stepping. After a few minutes I was seriously regretting asking for a tight sleeveless tunic from Ghastly, the cold closed in on me and I couldn't shake it, but then I caught my reflection in the mirror and admired my figure and realised why I had asked for a such a tight top, and suddenly didn't noticed the cold as much.

As we entered another hallway the torch light flickered, vainly trying to fight away the dark over powering shroud of shadows, it cut out altogether and I sighed, "You son of a bitch," I muttered and threw the torch to Kat, who caught it in an awkward two-handed grip, "Here, put this in one of the pockets, don't worry, I have a lighter." I assured her, clicking my fingers on my right hand and checking the handgun I had taken from Dean in my left hand, the flame flickered and danced strongly in my palm, illuminating the floor and the bottom of the walls brightly.

"Ow. You're hurting my arm." Kat complained from behind me, I looked up from the flame and frowned.

"What are you talking about?" I asked, turning to her, she was two large paces away from me and I definitely wasn't clinging onto her arm like some scared little schoolgirl. We both looked down at her arm and saw a grey, disembodied hand clutching tightly onto Kat's arm. My eyes narrowed and I moved like a snake, snapping my palm against the air. I didn't expect anything to happen, but amazingly something did: the pale, disincarnate hand let go of Kat as I stepped towards her, she was quiet as I shoved her behind me protectively. I held my palm out and shakily read the air readings, sighing as I felt nothing brush past, I turned to Kat and gave her a weak smile. "It's fine, it's gone." I assured her, the girl smiled back and opened her mouth to respond, but something cold and clammy wrapped around my neck and hauled me backwards, I screamed as I was pulled back into a room, Kat cried out in horror before the door slammed shut before me.

"Steph!" I heard Kat call distantly, she banged on the door and I whirled in fear, looking for the thing that grabbed me, but it wasn't there anymore. I ran over to the door and tugged at the handle, but it wouldn't budge.

"Kat, get Dean!" I called to her, I could hear her sob and then her running footsteps fading away from me, I blinked as my eyes adjusted to the dim and swapped the gun for my right hand, it shook slightly but I passed it off as adrenaline.

I must have waited in the dark for about three minutes, but it felt like an age until I heard rushing footsteps through the walls, there was a loud banging on the door and I jumped. "Where is she? Which room is she in?" I heard Dean's voice and sighed, jiggling the handle of my door.

"Dean!" I called, "Dean it won't open!"

"Right, ok. Don't worry, it's gonna be ok!" Dean called back and even though he couldn't see, I found myself nodding in agreement to him.

"Where's Sam?" I called, trying to change the topic to keep the fear that was curdling inside me at bay.

"I left him to find Gavin on his own, he's fine though, don't worry." Dean responded, he kept trying with the door and I found myself getting colder and colder as his attempts failed.

"Let me out! Please!" I screamed, my voice cracked as I looked at the old, moulding walls.

"Steph, hang on!" Dean called back, I ran a hand through my hair and shivered slightly.

"Is it working, can you get it open?" I heard Kat's hushed tones and stayed quiet, waiting for Dean's reply.

"I don't know," Dean replied in a quiet voice, he obviously thought I couldn't hear him, "But I'm not leaving her in there."

The air brushed against my hands faintly and I narrowed my eyes, backing away from the door with slow, steady steps. I stopped when I heard someone behind me, they were taking deep, heavy breaths, so heavy I could feel their breath on my bare shoulders. I closed my eyes and readied the handgun, I took a quick breath and opened them, whirling on the spot to find nothing. I frowned and snapped my fingers, summoning a flame so I could see through the gloom, I glanced at the edges at the end of the room and once I was satisfied that no one was stood there I turned back to the door where Dean was trying to break into and screamed. Stood there was a tall, heavyset grey figure, with dark oily hair to match his hooded eyes. His face was beaten and bloody, but the rest of his skin dark and had a sick, clammy grey pallor. I couldn't help it: I let out a terrified scream and back up to the door, only to back into the ghost, I could hear his breath but I couldn't _feel _it, making me all the more creeped out. "Dean!" I screamed in terror, backing up from the spectral figure.

Outside the room I could hear running footsteps again, "What's going on?" I recognised Sam's voice.

"It's Steph – she's in there with one of them." I heard Dean say, the ghost tilted his head and I narrowed my eyes: he had tilted it just like Skulduggery did.

It flickered again and opened it's mouth, it's expression blank as it reached it's hand out, I took a step back and whipped the shadows wildly at it, "Help me!" I shrieked, the ghost advanced forward.

"Steph!" I heard Dean again and shook my head, my back pressed up against the wall. I ran my hand through my hair and slid down the wall in defeat.

"Get me out of here!" I yelled, using the shadows again as a last ditch effort, it didn't work, the figure continued closer, his head still cocked and his hooded eyes still blank, vacant.

"Steph, it's not going to hurt you. Listen to me. You've got to face it, calm it down." I heard Sam's orders and frowned.

"She's gotta what?!" I heard Dean's astonished tone.

"I have to what?!" I called to them, staring up at the ghost in terror.

"These spirits, they're not trying to hurt us, they're trying to communicate. You gotta face it. You have to listen to it." Sam shouted back.

"You face it!" I know it was childish, but staring up at the disfigured ghost and being told to listen to it just didn't appeal to me.

"No! It's the only way to get out of there!" Sam answered and I sighed and jerked away as the ghost came within a few feet, I sprang up and headed over to the to the door, I pulled a face as the ghost turned slowly and stared at me.

"No!" I told Sam uncertainly, the ghost moved towards me with slow, awkward, stumbling steps.

"Look at it, come on. You can do it!" I heard Sam and groaned, the ghost came nearer and nearer and I took deep breaths to calm myself, fighting the urges to at least _hit _the apparition. It leaned in close to my neck and I bit my lip as I heard it's dry lips opening.

After the ghost vanished, I stared at where it had been just a few seconds before, not noticing the lock click and the door creak slowly open. Suddenly I was being enveloped in a tight, suffocating hug, but I didn't raise my arms to react. "Oh, Steph, are you ok?" I heard Dean's relieved voice in my ear and I blinked, coming back to reality a little.

Sam had moved passed us to check the room, "137." I said in a dull, dull voice. Dean slowly unwrapped his arms around me, but he held onto my shoulders as he looked closely into my eyes.

"Sorry?" He frowned.

"137." I blinked at him, "That's what is whispered in my ear." Dean looked up at someone past my shoulder, Sam no doubt. "It's a room number." I said, before he could. Sam frowned at me and glanced at Dean, I could tell they were having one of their silent brother conversations and looked down at my hands; they were shaking.

"Is she ok?" Kat looked at the brother's in concern, I looked up from my hands, trying to stop them shaking as I nodded jerkily.

"Ok, Steph, can we talk to you for a moment?" Dean smiled softly and tugged at my arm, leading me away from where Kat and Gavin were stood, "Are you sure you're alright?" He asked once Kat and Gavin were out of earshot.

"Mmm-hmm." I nodded more easily this time.

"I think she's in shock." Sam looked at his brother, obviously unconvinced by my efforts.

"Guys, I'm fine, really. Just a little shaken, you know?" I shrugged it off, Sam stared at me for a long moment before he shrugged back.

"Ok, fine... So if these spirits aren't trying to hurt anyone..." The tallest Winchester trailed off.

"Then what are they trying to do?" Dean finished.

"137," I murmured again, rolling the words around my mouth, "Maybe that's what they've been trying to tell us." I suggested.

"I guess we'll find out." Dean shrugged.

"Sounds good." I managed a smile as we turned back to the teenagers.

Kat and Gavin looked up at us expectantly, "So, now, are you guys ready to leave this place?" Dean said.

"That's an understatement." Kat joked, looking up at the walls, expecting something else to jump out and attack.

"Ok," Dean turned to his brother, "You get them outta here, Steph and I are going to find room 137."

"Wait." I held my hands and stopped everyone, I walked over to Kat and held out my hand, "Jacket." I said simply.

"Oh." Kat mumbled and slipped it off, reluctantly handing it to me, I wasted no time in slipping it on and sighed as I slipped my arms through the sleeves, enjoying the feel of my much missed coat, "You know, that is a nice jacket-."

"I know." I interrupted her, behind me Dean cleared his throat.

"I just wanted to, you know, thank you for saving me back there, and, uh... where did you get that?" She asked, pointing to the jacket with want in her eyes.

"Oh, this old thing?" I said in a mocking tone as I looked down at the coat, but Kat didn't notice, "It's one of a kind, a friend made it for me before he died." I waked back over to Dean and we walked away, "Nice meeting you!" I called over my shoulder before we rounded the corner, leaving the three of them stood there, shocked.

Dean and I walked down the corridors in silence, I was relieved it was only Dean and I so I could have a flame dancing in my palm brilliantly. "So," Dean cleared his throat awkwardly, "What happened back there?"

"Huh? In the room?" I asked.

"No, no. Before that – Kat said you saved her." Dean responded.

I was quiet for a moment, "Well, the ghost had a hold on her arm so I got her out of the danger zone, I got caught off guard and dragged into that room." I explained plainly.

"Right, right," Dean nodded, "Did the ghost say anything else to you in that room?" He suddenly asked, the breath hitched in my throat and I halted to a sudden stop.

"No... just, just 137." I stuttered, suddenly aware of how cold I was.

Dean was silent for a moment.

"Ok." He nodded slowly. We resumed walking, counting the door numbers until we found the right one, Dean tried the handle but it was locked tight, he began to fumble in his pocket for his lock picks, I waited all but two seconds before I snapped my palms out. The air rippled and the door broke from it's lock with a satisfying crack, I expected it to swing round and collide with the wall, but instead it slammed into something hard and bounced back, closing shut again. I sighed and opened the door, pushing it open experimentally until I came into contact with a huge, dark filing cabinet, I lined my shoulder up and pushed my body weight, slowly the cabinet slid across the floor, allowing the door to open. I stood still for a second, stretching my arms out after pushing the cabinet, I shot a glance at Dean, "Thanks for the help, by the way." I said, my tone dripping with sarcasm.

"Anytime." Dean smirked in response and I scoffed, glancing around the room, noticing for the first time how messy it was: drawers and filing cabinets were pushed over, the papers strewn haphazardly everywhere, the desk was overturned and the chair was missing a leg, it was stacked precariously against the wall.

We had several minutes of searching the room, I was combing over the papers on the desk when Dean broke the silence, "This is why I get paid the big bucks." He said in a smug tone, I looked up to find he had loosened a panel on the wall and found a satchel full of papers.

"What's in it?" I asked, abandoning the desk and making my way over to the older Winchester, he prised open the satchel and gave a huge smile as he held up an old, leather journal.

"Jackpot." He smirked and jumped up on the filing cabinet, I followed suite and frowned as I read the journal over his shoulder, "Well, all work and no play makes Dr. Ellicott a _very _dull boy." He frowned, I smiled and opened my mouth to respond, but was cut off by a noise, causing us both to jump and look up quickly.

"I think," I said in a soft voice, "That we should go find Sam."

"Agreed." Dean replied, jumping off the cabinet, he held his hand out and I took it, and together we stepped out the office quickly and walked quickly down the corridor, following the route we took to get to the room to get back to Sam.

There were murmurs around the corner up ahead, we figured it was Sam listening to another voicemail from Jessica and stepped around it, "Shit!" Dean exclaimed suddenly, his arm wrapping around my waist and yanking me back as a shot fired, it hit the wall and dust rose from it in a musty smoke.

"What the fu-."

"Damn it, damn it, don't shoot! It's us!" Dean cut me off, calling towards Kat and Gavin, who were meant to have left ages ago.

"Sorry! Sorry." Kat squealed, I exhaled deeply and ran a hand through my long dark hair, slowly, Dean and I stood up and walked around the corner.

"Son of a..." Dean trailed off as he looked at the marks the shot had left on the wall, he brushed his hand over them and then turned to the shaking teenagers, "What are you still doing here?! Where's Sam?" He demanded, I frowned, suddenly noticing Sam's absence from the group.

"He went to the basement, you called him." Gavin answered Dean uneasily.

I frowned, "What? We didn't call anyone."

"His cell phone rang. He said it was you." Kat shrugged.

I glanced at Dean and tilted my head, "Basement, huh?" Dean nodded and grabbed the duffel he had left with his brother, zipping it open and pulling out several weapons, handing me a handgun as he did so, I checked the safety and slid it in the waistband of my trousers.

"Alright, watch yourselves, and watch out for us." Dean sighed and led me down the hall.

"Wait – where are you going?" Kat called to us.

"Where do you think? Downstairs." I answered back before we retreated around the corner. We passed through the South wing and made our way to the central part of the asylum, we found the basement stairs with the door ajar, a rusted chain was broken beside it, "Do you think Sam's down there?" I whispered.

"It's worth a try." Dean shrugged and went through the door, I glanced behind us before following him down the concrete steps, before we reached the bottom Dean switched a torch on and shone the beam around, clearing away the dark abyss the lay below us.

"Sam?" I called uncertainly into the gloom.

"Sammy? Sam, you down here? Sam? Sam!" Dean called out, straying away from me, I frowned and kept close to him, I searched the dark with him but sighed in defeat. We turned back and the tall figure of Sam stood there in front of us, Dean and I instinctively jumped, my hand went to my handgun and Dean raised his shotgun in defence. "Man, answer us when we're calling you!" Dean breathed.

"Are you ok?" I asked the younger brother, peering up at him closely.

"Yeah. I'm fine." Sam answered, but it seemed almost... robotic.

"You know it wasn't me who called your cell, right?" Dean spoke up.

"Yeah, I know. I think something lured me down here." Sam nodded, glancing behind him.

"I think we know who: Dr. Ellicott. That's what the spirits have been trying to tell us. You haven't seen him, have you Sam?" I asked.

"No." Sam shook his head, "How do you know it was him?"

"'Cause we found his log book. Apparently he was experimenting on his patients. Awful stuff – makes lobotomies look like a couple of aspirin." Dean explained with a shudder.

"But it was the patients who rioted." Sam frowned in confusion.

"Yeah. They were rioting against Dr. Ellicott. Now, Dr. Feelgood was working on some sort of, like, extreme rage therapy." Dean explained.

"Yeah, he thought that if he could his patients to vent their anger then they would be cured of it, but instead it only made them worse and worse and angrier and angrier." I took over.

"Anyway, we're thinking that maybe his spirit is doing the same thing. You know; the cop, the kids in the seventies – making them so angry they become homicidal..." Dean trailed off and his eyes widened, "Come on, we gotta find his bones and torch them."

"How? The police never found his body." Sam frowned again.

"The log book said he had some sort of hidden procedure room down here somewhere where he'd work on his patients. So, if I was a patient I'd drag him down here and do a little work on him myself." I shrugged.

Sam pulled a face, "I don't know, it sounds kinda..."

"Crazy?" Dean answered.

"Yeah." Sam sent me a small smile.

I frowned and opened my mouth to reply, but Dean held up his hand, cutting me off, "Yeah. Exactly." He said, walking down the hallway, there was a door at the end of it. Dean opened it and peered inside, then he motioned for us to follow.

We entered the room and by the looks of it, it seemed like Dr Ellicott's office; there were desks and filing cabinets everywhere, filers and folders were in small, ramshackled piles on chairs. I clicked my fingers and conjured a flame, instantly a soft amber glow warmed the surroundings, "I told you, I looked everywhere. I didn't find a hidden room." Sam told us, Dean was by the wall, running his hand over the surface.

"Well, that's why they call it hidden..." He trailed off and held up his hand, Sam and I stayed silent watching him, "You hear that?" He asked.

I strained my ears and heard a soft whooshing sound, the unmistakeable sound of a draft, "What?" Sam frowned and I looked at him incredulously.

"You can't hear that?" I asked him, amazed.

Meanwhile Dean had crouched down and held his hand out not five centimetres away from the wall, "There's a door here." He announced, I stepped over and crouched beside him, the flame illuminated the distinct outline of a small door.

We suddenly heard a gun click and slowly turned, "Dean, Stephanie," Sam aimed a gun at us, a trickle of blood ran from his nose, "Step back from the door." He said.

Dean and I rose to our feet slowly, our hands out. "Sam," Dean said in a calm, calm voice, "Put the gun down."

"Is that an order?" Sam scoffed, I frowned at the gun and then at Sam.

"Nah, it's more of a friendly request." Dean managed a shaky smile.

"'Cause I'm getting pretty tired of your orders." Sam continued, ignoring Dean's previous comment.

"Sam," I fought to keep my voice from shaking, "Sam, what are you doing?"

The gun swivelled to me, "I know what I'm doing, Stephanie," He spat, "You need to stop babying me, both of you. Jessica died months ago, I'm fine about it – you need to move on."

"I knew it. Ellicott did something to you." Dean narrowed his eyes at his brother.

"For once in your life, just shut your mouth." Sam snapped, the gun moved from me to Dean.

"What are you gonna do, Sam? That gun's filled with rock salt. It can't kill us." Dean tilted his head at Sam.

Sam scoffed and shot at Dean point blank, he blasted backwards through the hidden door and sprawled in the secret room, "No. But it'll hurt like hell."

"Dean!" I called out to him, but he didn't get back up, when I turned back Sam had his gun trained on me, I slowly raised my hands and backed away. "Sam, let's just think about this." I tried.

"Shut up." Sam narrowed his eyes into slits, he stepped closer and I tilted my head, but didn't blink. He came closer and my hands shot out like snakes, attempting to knock the gun from his hands. The gun didn't release from his hold like I had planned, his iron grip stubbornly clung onto the weapon, Sam surprised me by aiming a punch which hit me squarely on the jaw – it was so hard I saw stars. I stumbled back dazedly, clutching my numbing jaw with my left hand, Sam looked at me intently and then he chuckled.

I narrowed my eyes, "What?"

"It's nothing, it's just – for someone who's apparently going to end the world, you're not exactly intimidating, are you?" Sam laughed, "I mean," I kept my gaze on him, my right hand slowly went for the handgun in the waistband of my trousers, "Look at you, you're a seventeen year old girl, for God's sake. It's not exactly imposing, is it?"

My hand found my gun and I whipped it out, at the same time Sam laughed and threw the shotgun down and grabbed something else, he surprised me by charging forward, I cried out as he slammed me against the wall, when I felt something cold against my neck I became silent. Above me, Sam chuckled darkly and slowly moved the hair behind my left ear, "_God_, Stephanie, did you think I was that stupid?" Sam's voice reached my ears, I didn't answer, I didn't even _breathe_. "I remember a while back you mentioned something about how special that jacket of yours was, something about it being armoured." I looked up at Sam unblinkingly, staring into his cute brown eyes – they didn't seem so cute now. "See, I was thinking: why don't we test it?" Suddenly, Sam punched my in the ribs, I winced at the harshness of the blow – if it weren't for this coat I was sure that Sam's hit would've resulted in a broken rib or two. Sam peered at my face and shrugged, "Huh, guess you were right." I opened my mouth to respond but he suddenly grabbed a fistful of my hair and slammed it against the wall.

Once, twice, and another time before darkness overtook my vision.

_Dean's P.O.V _

I gasped into consciousness and found myself laying on hard, cold concrete, I blinked a few times as the memories suddenly came flooding back to me, "Sam!" I called out hoarsely, rubbing the back of my head as I did so. I struggled to my feet and turned to see Sam sat on a chair with one leg over the other, as if he was going for a job interview, not in the basement of a haunted asylum. On the floor in front of him was the limp form of Stephanie, her hair was covering half of her face and her eyes were shut, above her eye was a trickle of blood. I frowned at Sam and ran over to her and knelt down, grabbing her wrist and feeling for a pulse. I sighed when I felt the faint flutter of her heartbeat and stood slowly, facing Sam.

Although, it wasn't Sam.

"We have to burn Ellicott's bones and then all this will be over, you'll be back to normal and we can get Steph to a hospital." I told him.

"I am normal," Sam shrugged and gave a smile, "I'm just telling the truth for the first time. I mean, why are you even here? 'Cause you're following Dad's orders like a good little soldier? Because you always do what he says without question? Are you that desperate for his approval?" His smile widened and my frown deepened.

"This isn't you talking, Sam." I urged him.

"That's the difference between you and me. I have a mind of my own – hell, even Stephanie's more independent than you are, when she's not hanging onto your every word, of course..." Sam trailed off and crouched down next to the girl, my jaw tightened when he reached out and brushed the hair from her face carefully, "I guess she's not as pathetic as you are."

"So what are you gonna do, huh?" I glared, trying to keep the fear of him hurting Stephanie from my voice, "Are you gonna kill me? Take Steph?"

"You know what?" Sam sighed heavily and straightened up, I relaxed a little as he stepped over Steph and closer to me, "I am sick of doing what you tell me to do. We're no closer to finding Dad today than we were six months ago."

"Well, then here. Let me make it easier for you," I reached down and pulled my Smith and Wesson from my pocket and handed it to Sam, "Come on. Take it. Real bullets are gonna work a hell of a lot better than rock salt." Sam stared at the pistol in my hand and then searched my face, I thought he'd take one look and then I'd give it away, but his expression didn't change, "Take it!" I urged. He didn't need another word, he snatched up the gun and thumbed the safety, aiming it straight at my face. "You hate me that much?" My voice cracked, "You think you could kill your own brother? Then go ahead. Pull the trigger. Do it!" I shouted, my voice echoed around the room. I closed my eyes and waited for the click, but it didn't come. There was a noise and I snapped open my eyes to see Steph holding a struggling Sam in a strong headlock, her face was calm and her eyes were dark, darker than I'd ever seen them. After Sam dropped, Stephanie crouched down and I swear I heard her say something to him before she snatched up my gun, when she stood back up and faced me, her eyes were lighter. I stared at her as she glanced down at the gun and then froze, "Steph?" I asked cautiously, slowly taking the gun from her suddenly weak grip.

"What – what happened?" She asked in a quiet voice.

"You were out cold, then I you came to and shut down Sam." I shrugged, then I reached over to her and felt for the wound that had bled on her head.

She saw my confused frown, "What are you looking for?" She asked.

"I think Sam hit you in the head, you have blood on your head. But I can't find the head wound." I explained, dropping my hand in a baffled defeat.

"It doesn't matter. We need to burn the doctor's corpse and save Sam." She shook her head and walked past me, I stared at the back of her for a moment before shrugging and following as she began to look for the corpse. She opened all the cupboards and the last one revealed a mummified corpse of the doctor, accompanied with a strong, stomach-churning stench, we both flinched away and stood back from the corpse.

"Oh, that's just gross." I coughed, Stephanie nodded beside me and stepped out the room, "Where are you going?" I called after her.

"You dropped your duffel in the next room, unless you have salt and kerosene in your pockets." The pretty dark haired girl shot me that small smile I loved so much over her shoulder.

"Oh." I murmured in response, glancing back down at the body in disgust as I waited for Stephanie to return with the stuff.

Not two minutes later I was pouring salt over the repulsive body, "Soak it up." I muttered under my breath as Steph proceeded to saturate the body with the petrol. I smiled and wrapped my arm over her shoulders when she threw the empty can away, she clicked her fingers and I watched in awe as a spark flashed and grew into a bright, dancing flame. Before she could set the body alight a gurney came flying towards us and knocked us both to the ground, sending us sprawling to the floor. I blinked away the haze to see Steph struggle against the grip of the mangled, ruined, animated corpse of Dr. Ellicott, she cried out as the psycho grabbed her face, his hands lit up in a brilliant electric blue.

The light intensified and Stephanie's piercing scream got louder, "Dean," She managed, "Finish th-."

"Don't worry," Ellicott cut her off, "I'm going to help you. I'm going to make you all better – even get rid of the darkness in your head." The doctor told her in a creepily soothing tone, Stephanie thrashed under his grip, her screams echoed around the small room. I reached into my pocket and my fingers closed around my lighter, I pulled it out and flicked off the lid, lighting it and throwing it onto Ellicott's corpse. The body was instantly enveloped in a great orange flame and his ghost darkened, his grey face cracked and his eyes darkened into hollow, empty sockets, the figure let go of Stephanie and fell to the floor, crumbling on impact.

"Steph!" I called, running over to her as she collapsed onto the floor, I moved the hair from her face and shook her gently, but she didn't wake up. I fumbled with her wrist and checked her pulse, it was still there.

"Dean?" A confused voice from the doorway prompted me to look up, Sam was stood in the doorway rubbing his head, he stared down at where I was knelt next to Steph in amazement.

"You're not going to try and kill me, are ya?" I asked.

"No." Sam answered in a dull voice.

"Good. Because that would be awkward." I faked a shudder and got to my feet, stooping and scooping up Stephanie in my arms.

"Is she ok?" Sam asked, glancing at the girl's unconscious form in concern.

"I'm sure she's fine, probably just needs to sleep it off." I lied, trying to brush it off.

We left Steph in the back of the car as we said our goodbyes to Kat and Gavin, I'm sure she wouldn't care much if she missed out on it. "Are you sure she's gonna be alright?" Kat asked me, glancing at Stephanie in the back seat.

"Yep." I answered in a monotone voice.

"Ok... Well, thanks guys." Kat shot Sam and I shy smiles.

"Yeah. Thanks." Gavin added.

"No more haunted asylums, ok?" Sam gave them a stern look and I rolled my eyes: no more asylums? Probably no more scary movies for either of them. The teenagers nodded and walked away without another word, Sam and I turned and got into the car in silence, I stared at the steering wheel for a moment. "Hey, Dean?" Sam asked in a soft voice, I turned and looked at him as the early morning sunlight started to shine weakly through the trees. "I'm sorry, man. I said some awful things back there."

"You remember all that?" I asked him in surprise.

"Yeah, it's like I couldn't control it. But I didn't mean it, any of it." Sam responded, not catching my eye.

"You didn't, huh?" I couldn't help but scoff: it had all sounded like he'd meant it all to me, every word.

"No, of course not! Do we need to talk about this?" Sam protested.

"No. I'm not really in the sharing and caring kinda mood. I just wanna get some sleep." I sighed, suddenly feeling drained as I turned the keys in the ignition, the roar the car made as it came to life bought a smile to my lips as we smoothly pulled away from the asylum.

"Speaking of sharing and caring," Sam turned to check if Stephanie was still out of it, "When Steph took me out earlier, she said something really weird to me..."

"Oh yeah? What she say?" I asked Sam, suddenly intrigued.

"She said something like... well, her exact words were: 'Rule number one, when you have the chance to kill me, do it properly. Don't leave me on the floor with the job half-finished.'." Sam murmured, hoping he wouldn't wake Stephanie.

I kept my eyes on the road, "Huh, I wonder what she meant."

"It was weird, man. The way she said it... it was like she was a completely different person." Sam replied.

_Completely different person_... like the way she had looked strangely calm and uncaring as she dispatched Sam so easily. Credit's where it's due, but Sam is a challenge: he's a huge opponent to take out single-handedly. "You know that's funny, the way she looked right after she had knocked you out cold: she was so cool and unaffected by it, Sam. And the way she did it, like it was the easiest thing in the world for her." I muttered to my brother in a soft voice, glancing up in the rear-view mirror to check Stephanie was still asleep. Sure enough, her eyes were shut and she looked so content and at ease.

"Really?" Sam was shocked.

"Yeah, and about two seconds later she was stood there with no idea what had just happened, like she'd just woken up from something." I continued, shooting Sam a worried glance.

"Do you reckon she was just disorientated? I mean, I had just rammed her head into the wall three times." Sam reasoned.

I shook my head in disagreement, "No, you should've seen it, Sam, it's like she had no recollection of what she'd just done. And when that freakshow of a doctor had his hands on her he was saying he was going to get rid of the darkness in her head."

"Do you know what he was talking about?" Sam asked.

"No clue, man." I shook my head and scoffed.

"We'll worry about it later, let's just get Steph onto a proper bed. Then we can all catch up on all the sleep we missed last night." Sam suggested, I nodded and stayed quiet for the rest of the journey.

_Valkyrie's P.O.V_

I woke up to the sound of the car roaring to life, but I kept my eyes shut, my eyelids felt like they weighed a hundred pounds each and my body was stiff and tired, a headache flared across my forehead painfully, "Speaking of sharing and caring," Sam broke through the silence, "When Steph took me out earlier, she said something really weird to me..." Sam trailed off and my interest was piqued: I had said something to Sam earlier? - I wasn't even aware I'd taken him out.

"Oh yeah? What she say?" Came Dean's voice, I decided to keep my eyes shut and pretend to be asleep, just to see how their conversation panned out.

"She said something like... well, her exact words were: 'Rule number one, when you have the chance to kill me, do it properly. Don't leave me on the floor with the job half-finished.'." Sam struggled to explain, his answer was in a quiet voice in an attempt to be quiet enough so I wouldn't be able to hear. His attempt failed. My mind was whirling: I didn't remember saying anything like that to Sam, but I knew who it sounded like: it sounded just like...

"Huh, I wonder what she meant." Dean muttered a reply.

"It was weird, man. The way she said it... it was like she was a completely different person." Sam continued in a low voice, my insides went cold on _completely different person. _

Dean was quiet for a moment, I wished I knew what he was thinking at that moment, "You know that's funny, the way she looked right after she had knocked you out cold: she was so cool and unaffected by it, Sam. And the way she did it, like it was the easiest thing in the world for her." He finally replied in a quiet tone. I fought to keep my expression as unaware as possible, but really my adrenaline was pumping: they were talking about me, but it _wasn't _me, not really...

"Really?" Sam sounded shocked.

"Yeah, and about two seconds later she was stood there with no idea what had just happened, like she'd just woken up from something." Dean pressed.

I could practically taste Sam's attempt at nonchalance, "Do you reckon she was just disorientated? I mean, I had just rammed her head into the wall three times."

"No, you should've seen it, Sam, it's like she had no recollection of what she'd just done. And when that freakshow of a doctor had his hands on her he was saying he was going to get rid of the darkness in her head." Dean disagreed, I shuddered inwardly: I remembered the doctor placing his all-too-cold hands on the sides of my head, the piercing needles and spikes shot across my mind in a bright blue light, I knew what he was trying to find, he didn't want to get rid of the '_darkness_', he wanted to bring it out and unleash it.

"Do you know what he was talking about?" Came Sam's confused tone.

"No clue, man." Dean sounded defeated, and then he scoffed, I didn't need to open my eyes to know he was shaking his head.

"We'll worry about it later, let's just get Steph onto a proper bed. Then we can all catch up on all the sleep we missed last night." Sam responded, I waited for Dean's reply, but it never came.

I had tried to get back to sleep, I really had. But the headache that had come in the car still hadn't faded, and it toyed with me mercilessly, never allowing me to slip into the appealing unconsciousness of sleep. I layed in a bed beside Dean, from his breathing rate I could tell he was fast asleep, but I knew Sam was still awake. I think Sam knew I was awake too, but he made no efforts to communicate with me, so I didn't either, I think he understood that we both needed to mull over our thoughts in the quiet. The silence was broken by the loud ringing of a phone, my eyes snapped open and I sat up, blinking at the sudden bright motel light and glancing at the phone, it was Dean's, I looked at the older Winchester and waited for him to awaken and answer the phone, but he showed no signs of doing such a thing. I glanced at Sam and he frowned and reached for the phone, confusion crossed his features as he read the number and answered it, "Hello." He greeted in a bored tone, I watched as he listened, frowning when Sam shot up from his bed, "Dad?" Sam whispered.

**Author's Note: ****I'm sorry I was late in updating again! My final year of school is really taxing on me and I've found it hard to find the time to finish this chapter. I also had trouble writing the middle part of the chapter, so please tell me if there are any faults! Ok, I'm going to upload chapter 11 when I have 70 reviews, so if you want this story to continue please comment below! **


	11. Chapter 11

Winchester and Cain

Chapter 11—Scarecrow

**PREVIOUSLY **

**I glanced at Sam and he frowned and reached for the phone, confusion crossed his features as he read the number and answered it, "Hello." He greeted in a bored tone, I watched as he listened, frowning when Sam shot up from his bed, "Dad?" Sam whispered.**

"Are you hurt?" Sam sat up in his bed in panic, "We've been looking for you everywhere," Sam sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose, "We didn't know where you were, if you were ok."

"Morning." I heard a voice beside me and looked down to see Dean sleepily smiling up at me, he reached up to stroke my cheek and I smiled back.

"We're fine. Dad, where are you?" Sam continued, upon hearing this Dean sat bolt upright, his head whipped around and faced his brother, "What? Why not?" Sam's tone turned suddenly angry.

"Is that Dad?" Dean asked.

"You're after it, aren't you? The thing that killed Mum." Sam accused, there was a pause and I turned to frown at Dean: what was he talking about? "A demon? You know for sure?"

"A demon?" I echoed, confused, "What's he saying?"

"You know where it is?" Sam continued, ignoring Dean completely, "Let us help!" He suddenly demanded in a loud voice, making Dean and I jump, "Why not?"

Dean held his hand out to Sam, "Give me the phone."

"Names? What names, Dad – talk to me, tell me what's going on." Sam ran a hand through his dark, shaggy locks, "No. Alright? No way." He shook his head frustratedly.

"Give me the phone." Dean asked again, a little forcefully this time. Sam turned his back on us stubbornly, the room fell silent and a commanding male voice could be heard on the other end of the speaker, after a few more seconds he suddenly grabbed it from Sam's hand, wrenching it from his grip and standing up and walking away.

"Dad, it's me. Where are you?" Dean spoke quickly, I glanced at Sam and then back at Dean as he nodded at the phone, "Yes sir," My eyes widened in alarm as I heard Dean's tone change, "Uh, yeah, I got a pen. What are their names?" Dean ignored us as he snatched up a pen on a nearby table and began to write something down on a scrap of paper.

We had left the shabby hotel room soon after the call had ended, there was no conversation: Dean immediately started packing and herding us out the door. Needless to say Sam and I weren't happy about it. Least of all Sam. "Alright, so, the names Dad gave us – they're all couples?" The youngest Winchester shot his brother a doubtful look as we drove down an empty road.

"Three couples. All went missing." Dean nodded once, his gaze transfixed on the road.

I leant forward in my seat, "And they're all from different towns – different states?" I asked.

"That's right. You got Washington, New York, Colorado. Each couple took a road trip cross country. None of them arrived at their destination, and none of them were ever heard from again." Dean answered, I nodded and cleared my throat as the car fell into an uneasy silence.

"Well, it's a big country, Dean. They could've disappeared anywhere." Sam reasoned with a small shrug of his large shoulders.

"Yeah, could've," Dean tore his gaze from the road and looked at his brother, "But each couple's route took them to the same part of Indiana. Always on the second week of April. One year after another after another."

"And this is the second week of April." I piped up.

"Yep." Dean switched his gaze back to the road again.

"So, Dad is sending us to Indiana to go hunting for something before another couple vanishes?" Sam asked, frowning at his brother in utter amazement.

"Yahtzee. Can you imagine putting together a pattern like this? All the different bits Dad had to go through? The man's a master." Dean gushed, Sam sighed irritably and shook his head.

"Right, I can't take this anymore. Pull over." Sam said with an annoyed expression.

Dean frowned as the car slowed and pulled off on the side of the road, "Why?" He asked as he turned the car off.

"Dean, we're not going to Indiana." Sam stated.

"We're not?" Dean frowned, casting a confused glance at me in the back seat.

"No, we're going to California," Sam explained, "Dad called from a payphone – Sacramento area code."

"Sam -." Dean tried.

"Dean," Sam cut his brother off, "If this demon killed Mum and Jess, and Dad's closing in, we've gotta be there. We've gotta help."

"Dad doesn't _want _our help." Dean argued.

"I don't care." Sam shrugged, I stayed quiet and watched as the brothers both grew frustrated towards eachother.

"He's given us an order." Dean frowned.

"I don't care," Sam groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose with a sigh, "We don't always have to do what he says."

"Sam, Dad is asking us to work jobs – save lives. It's important." Dean told him.

"Alright, I understand, believe me, I understand. But I'm talking one week here, man, to get answers. To get revenge." Sam responded, Dean scoffed and looked back at me.

"Are you hearing this?" He asked me, I held my hands up.

"Hey, don't ask me, it's not my place." I said, Dean rolled his eyes and looked back at his brother in the front seat.

"Alright," Dean sighed heavily, "Look, I know how you feel."

"Do you?" Sam snapped in reply, my eyes widened at his sudden aggressive tone, Dean looked taken aback, "How old were you when Mum died? Four? Jess died six months ago. How the hell would you know how I feel?" Sam seethed, Dean stared at him, shocked.

"Dad said it wasn't safe," Dean raised an eyebrow, "For any of us. I mean, he obviously knows something we don't, so if he says to stay away – we stay away."

"I don't understand the – the blind faith you have in the man. It's like you don't even question him." Sam huffed.

"Yeah, it's called being a good son!" Dean shouted, there was a pause, Sam shook his head and opened the door on his side and got out, Dean and I exchanged a glance and followed him out. Sam had opened the trunk and was getting his rucksack and bag, "You're a selfish bastard, you know that? You just do whatever you want. Don't care what anybody thinks." The elder brother glared at Sam and I shoved him a little.

"Dean," I gave him a look, "Stop it."

"No, no, no." Sam held his hand up, cutting me off, "That's obviously what you really think, Dean."

"Yeah, it is." Dean nodded coldly.

"Well," Sam narrowed his eyes, "Then this selfish bastard is going to California." He turned away from us, slinging on his backpack as he did so.

"Come on, you're not serious, Sam." I walked over to him and tugged on his arm.

He whirled furiously and towered over me, "I am serious." He snapped, shoving me away from him angrily.

"Sam, stop it!" Dean called to Sam's retreating figure, "Come on, it's the middle of the night! I'm taking off with Steph, I will leave your ass, you hear me?" Sam halted and turned around.

"That's what I want you to do." Sam glared at his brother.

I shook my head, "Guys, stop it, come on." I tried, but I was ignored.

"Goodbye, Sam." Dean said, I looked back at Dean but didn't move towards him, instead I turned back to Sam and held my hand out.

"You don't have to leave, we can figure something out." I begged, looking at him with sad eyes.

Sam stared at me and then sighed, "Go with Dean, Steph."

"Not without you." I said stubbornly.

"Steph, let's go!" Dean called to me, I glanced back at Dean and then at Sam again, torn. Sam rolled his eyes and walked over to me, and for that second I thought he was changing his mind. But he merely pushed me towards Dean and the car. Someone was tugging on my arm, pulling me towards the car, I looked up and saw Dean and started struggling.

"Dean let go!" I protested, but he used his other arm to clamp my free arm, "We can't leave Sam!"

"He doesn't wanna come along, Steph. We gotta go." Dean said, ignoring my struggles. "Goodbye, Sam." He called over his shoulder to his brother in a dull, dejected voice. He pulled me towards the car, shutting the trunk and opening the passenger door, "Get in the car, Steph." He ordered.

I shook my head and crossed my arms, "Not without Sam."

Dean rolled his eyes and bundled me into the passenger seat, strapping me in and slamming the door shut, as soon as he walked away from the door I unclipped the seatbelt and clambered into the back seat. Dean got into the drivers seat and sighed when he looked into the rear-view mirror, "Steph, why are you in the back?"

"Because I don't sit in the front: that's Sam's seat." I told him blankly, then turned and stared out the window, ignoring him completely as we pulled away.

It was mid-morning when we pulled up outside a modest diner with a big sign with the American flag on it, on the sign it read:

**SCOTTY'S CAFE **

Dean turned the engine off and stretched, yawning as he took his phone from his pocket and flipped it on, I looked over his shoulder and saw he was thinking about dialling Sam, I looked up and silently willed him to do it: to ring him and apologise, to put all their differences aside because they were family. But none of that happened, Dean shut off his phone and got out the car, before he closed his door he peered in at me, I resumed my position of crossing my arms and not looking at him. "Come on, let's go get breakfast." Out of the corner of my eye I saw Dean give me a smile. I didn't reply and kept my gaze fixated on a bird wandering out on the road, "Are you gonna stare out that window forever? Come on." Dean's smile got wider but I didn't respond, after a few more seconds he sighed and shut the door, I focused my attention back on the bird, it was pecking absent-mindedly at the ground. My view of the bird was suddenly blocked by Dean, he opened the door and crouched until he was at my eye level, "I know you can't stay mad at me forever, Steph." He pointed out.

"Yes I can." I replied, although a smile played on my lips.

"No you can't. It's impossible to stay mad at me. You know, because I'm me." He smirked, I glanced at his face and rolled my eyes.

"I hate you." I said as my smile grew wider.

"No you don't. Now let's go." Dean stepped back and I got out the car, it felt good to stretch my legs after a long car journey.

On the porch of the diner there was a man in his late forties sat enjoying the morning air with a cup of coffee and a cigarette, he watched us with calculating eyes as we approached him. "Let me guess," Dean smiled in greeting and pointed to Scotty, "Scotty."

The man looked up at the big sign above his head, "Yep." He nodded, his voice gruff.

"Hi, my name's John Bonham and this is my girlfriend, Alison Plant." Dean introduced us with a friendly smile.

"John Bonham..." The man echoed thoughtfully, taking a drag from his cigarette, "Isn't that the drummer from Led Zeppelin?" He turned and looked at me, "And Alison was the name of Robert Plant's sister, right?"

Dean stared at Scotty with a shocked expression, "Wow. Good. Classic rock fan."

"What can I do for you, John?" The old man asked, Dean dug in his pocket and produced two crumpled bits of paper, they were the Missing Person flyers for the couple who went missing.

"We were wondering if, uh, you'd seen these people by any chance." Dean answered.

Scotty took a long look at each picture, "Nope. Who are they?"

"Friends of ours. They went missing about a year ago, and they passed through somewhere around here. We've already asked around Scottsburg and Salem and -."

"Sorry," Scotty cut me off and shoved the flyers back into my hands, "We don't get many strangers around here." He explained a little too hastily for my taste, I narrowed my eyes as Dean nodded.

"Scotty, you've got a smile that lights up a room, anybody ever tell you that?" Dean's sudden comment threw us all off, Scotty and I stared at him in confusion, "Never mind," Dean chuckled and then grabbed my hand, pulling me away, "See you around." He called to the old man on the steps.

Dean and I found a small petrol station a little way down the road from the diner, it was owned by an ageing couple, Stacy and Harley Jorgeson, and a girl who was around Sam's age called Emily. "You sure they didn't stop for gas or something?" Dean inquired as he Stacy and Harley studied the photos.

The couple shook their heads, "Nope, don't remember 'em. You two said they were friends of yours?" Harley replied in a scratchy but friendly tone.

"That's right." I nodded, Emily came downstairs carrying a box in her hands.

"Did the guy have a tattoo?" She asked.

"Yeah, he did actually." I nodded slowly, Emily looked over Harley's shoulder at the pictures of the missing couple.

"Don't you remember?" She looked up at the couple in confusion, "They were just married."

"You're right," Harley snapped his fingers, a sudden wide smile spread across his face, "They did stop for gas, weren't here for more than ten minutes."

"You remember anything else?" Dean directed the question at Harley, but he looked at Emily as he spoke.

"I told 'em how to get back to the interstate. They left town." The man shrugged.

"I see," I nodded, "Could you point us in that direction?"

"Sure." Harley looked at his wife and she smiled kindly.

I sat up in the front of the car next to Dean this time. We drove on in silence down a single road, not even the music was playing. I looked out the window and enjoyed the pretty colours of an early autumn of the orchard that we were driving past. Suddenly there was a whining sound accompanied with some beeping, I glanced at Dean and he frowned, "What the hell?" He said as he slowed down and pulled over. I turned and followed the sound of the beeping, it was coming from a bag in the backseat. I rifled in the bag until I pulled out a small object and showed it to Dean: it was the EMF meter, and it was flashing frantically.

"Is it broken?" I asked as I frowned at the device.

"No, something around here's setting it off," Dean replied, taking the EMF meter from me and holding it out in front of him, "Come on, let's go check it out." He said, I nodded and we got out the car. Dean pressed a button on the meter and it switched off, he pocketed it as we climbed over a fence and entered the orchard. We walked in silence for a few minutes, I had my right hand out and was reading the air, trying to detect anything that could jump out and maim us at any instant. I jumped when Dean tapped my shoulder, I turned to glare at him but he pointed to something up ahead. There was a clearing around the masses of apple trees and in the middle was a scarecrow tied to a post, we walked closer to it and I cocked my head as I studied it: it was dressed in the same haphazard fashion as most scarecrows, and it had a leather stitched head and stitched old clothing, on it's head was an old leather mud-covered hat. Suddenly, Dean broke the silence: "Dude," He announced in a serious tone, "You're fugly." Dean and I caught eachother's gaze and burst out laughing, I leant against a tree for support as Dean tried to gather himself. After the giggling had subsided Dean studied the scarecrow again. He frowned as he was looking up at the scarecrow's left hand, "Hey, Steph? Can you get me that ladder by that tree over there?" He pointed to the area of where the ladder was leant up against a tree, his eyes still fixed on the scarecrow's hand. I shrugged to myself but did as he asked, he steadied it against the post the scarecrow was tied to and climbed up it.

"What are you looking at?" I asked as he began to move the scarecrow's clothing, it rustled in the quiet.

"Shhh." Dean replied, I frowned but stayed quiet as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a crumpled piece of paper, he opened it and I saw it was the missing persons flyer for the missing man, Vince. Dean held the picture up and compared it with the scarecrow's left limb, "Huh." Dean muttered as he stuffed the picture back in his pocket.

My frowned deepened, "What is it?"

Dean didn't answer, instead he looked up at the scarecrow, "Nice tat."

I stared at Dean confusedly as we drove back to the petrol station, "So, the scarecrow had a... tattoo." I said slowly.

"Mmmhmm." Dean nodded as he kept his eyes fixed on the road.

"And it's the same one as the guy who went missing?" I pressed, Dean nodded again as the car slowed as he pulled into the station.

"So it's the scarecrow. Although maybe it's a scarecrow that's – that's _not _a scarecrow." I realised, the car came to a complete stop and Dean turned to look at me.

"Exactly. We need to ask around and find out more about the creepy hay-man. Starting with -." Dean cut off and pointed out the window, I followed his finger and spotted Emily, she was stood with her back to us and was busying herself with the petrol pumps. Dean and I got out the car, I stretched gratefully in the sunlight as Emily turned to us.

"You're back." She noted.

"Never left." Dean shrugged in response.

"Are you still looking for your friends?" She asked.

"Yeah." I nodded.

"You mind filling her up there, Emily?" Dean asked, the girl shrugged and grabbed a pump, Dean stepped away from me and carefully opened the fuel hatch on his gleaming black pride and watched with careful eyes as Emily began to fill the car up.

"Did you grow up here?" I asked, frowning at Dean slightly.

"I came here when I was thirteen, I lost my parents – car accident," She added, anticipating my next question.

"I'm sorry," I said sympathetically, "Then what happened?"

"My aunt and uncle took me in." She answered, looking back at the Jorgeson general store.

"They're nice people." Dean complimented.

Emily shrugged and lifted the pump out of the fuel hatch, "Everybody's nice here."

Dean and I followed her as she put the fuel pump back in it's holder, "So, what? It's the, uh, perfect little town?" I asked.

"Well, you know, it's the _Boonies. _But I love it. I mean – the towns around us; people are losing their homes, their farms. But here? It's almost like we're blessed." Emily answered, looking down the road and off into the distance, I glanced at Dean and raised an eyebrow.

"Hey, have you been to that orchard? Seen that scarecrow?" Dean asked, changing the subject.

"Yeah, it creeps me out." Emily laughed, I cracked a smile as I remembered Dean's earlier comment.

"Do you, uh, know whose it is?" I inquired.

"I don't know," Emily shook her head, "It's just always been there."

"Right." I nodded, the conversation died down and I looked away awkwardly.

"Is that your aunt and uncle's?" Dean broke the silence, I looked back and saw he was admiring a red sports car parked a little way off.

"Customer. Had some car troubles." Emily answered.

"It's not a couple is it? A guy and a girl?" Dean pressed, his tone suddenly urgent.

"Mmmhmm." Emily nodded, Dean gave me a look and I nodded.

"Oh, hey, Scotty," Dean called to the ageing man as we entered the diner, "Can I get two coffees, black?" Scotty nodded and walked away, Dean and I smiled at the couple as we approached them, "Oh, and some of that pie, too, while you're at it."

We sat at the table near to the couple, "Hey, how you doing?" I greeted with a big smile, the couple both smiled in return, "Are you two just passing through?" I asked.

"Road trip." The girl nodded.

"Hm. Yeah, us too." Dean piped up.

Scotty walked back over to the couple and refilled their drinks, "I'm sure these people want to eat in peace." He said in a stiff tone.

"Just a little friendly conversation," Dean shrugged innocently, Scotty grunted and walked away, "Oh, and that coffee too, man." Dean called to him, Scotty didn't respond and Dean turned back to the couple, "So, what brings you to town?"

"We just stopped for gas. And, uh, the guy at the gas station saved our lives." The girl explained.

"Is that right?" Dean asked.

"Yeah, one of our brake lines was leaking, we had no idea. He was fixing it for us." The man nodded.

Dean and I exchanged a look, "Nice people." I muttered.

"Yeah," The man nodded, "That's a nice accent, where are you from?" He asked.

"Uh," The question caught me off guard, "I'm from Ireland."

"Huh. And what brings you to America?" The man asked.

"It's a long story," I smiled weakly, glancing at Dean, "So, how long till you're up and running?"

"Sundown." The girl answered.

"Really?" Dean frowned and glanced at me, then back to the couple, "To fix a brake line?" The man nodded, "You see, me and my girl know a thing or two about cars, we could probably have you up and running in about an hour – and we wouldn't charge." Dean tried.

"You know, thanks a lot, but I think we'd rather have a mechanic do it." The girl smiled politely.

"Sure, I know." Dean nodded in understanding and paused, "It's just that these roads – they're not safe at night."

The couple stopped eating and stared at Dean in amazement, "I'm sorry?" The girl coughed.

"We know it sounds strange, but... uh – you might be in danger." I told them.

"Look, we're trying to eat. Ok?" The man shot me an irritated glance.

I narrowed my eyes and shifted in my seat, Dean reached out and put a warning hand on my arm, "Yeah, ok." He said. The couple looked at us worriedly and I glanced at Dean and he sighed, "You know, my brother could give you this puppy dog look, and you'd just buy right into it."

Behind us, the bell above the entrance to the diner chimed, I turned to see who'd entered and quickly turned back around and tapped Dean: it was an officer. "Thanks for coming, Sheriff." Scotty's voice sounded as he walked over to the officer, Dean and I watched as Scotty whispered something to the sheriff, they turned to look at us and we turned away quickly, my eyes widened when I heard approaching footsteps.

"Afternoon," The sheriff greeted the four of us, the couple stared up at the sheriff and then quickly busied themselves with their food, the officer leaned down until he was eye level with Dean and I, "I'd like a word please, you two." He ordered.

"Oh come on," Dean huffed, "We're already having a bad day."

"You know what would make it worse?" The sheriff glared at him, Dean stared up at the sheriff for a moment before he nodded slowly, the sheriff crossed his arms ,"Hmph. There's been a phone call, apparently you two are harassing some customers." He grunted.

"Huh, so we're not allowed a nice, friendly conversation?" I asked innocently.

The sheriff stared at me for a moment, "Right, I'm gonna have to ask you both to leave." He sighed.

I opened my mouth to protest but Dean cut me off: "That's fine, we were just leaving anyway." He said, grabbing my hand and standing up. The sheriff nodded to Scotty and the couple as he followed us out.

"This is ridiculous." I growled under my breath as Dean and I were herded towards the car, the sheriff stood in an imperious stance as he watched us get in the car, Dean pulled away sharply, beeping once to the sheriff before we pulled out onto the main road, "What a dick." I muttered as I looked up and saw the officer watching our departure in the rear-view mirror.

"Don't worry, I reckon that couple's in danger, we're gonna come back and check things out later." Dean assured me as he started fiddling with his stereo.

I was sleepily gazing out the window of the car as we drove back to Burkitsville, we waited until night until Dean thought it was time to get back, I could just about make out the dark outlines of the trees in the orchard where we found the creepy scarecrow. We suddenly passed a dark, distinctive shape with red lights and I frowned, "Dean, go back." I said, sitting up and yawning.

"Huh?" Dean asked, not taking his eyes off the road.

"I think, I think we passed something back there. It looked like a car on the side of the road." I told him, Dean nodded.

"Better check it out." Dean murmured, he suddenly turned the steering wheel hard and slammed the handbrake on, the car expertly swerved and skidded until it had spun a half turn, the car jolted to a stop once we were on the other road and facing the other way. We raced to where the car was and parked behind, I checked my ring whilst we jumped out. We ran and cleared the fence in one terrific leap, Dean stayed on his feet whilst I rolled and sprung up – just like Tanith had taught me. We slowed as we reached a small clearing, we paused and tried to listen for something over the sound of our heavy breathing, "Where the hell are they?" Dean huffed.

"Hang on," I splayed my hands out and closed my and concentrated, feeling the air four metres in a circle around us, five metres, six metres, ten metres... "There," I opened my eyes and pointed to the right, "Their up there, running. I think something's chasing them." I told him, we heard a scream and pelted off towards it. We almost collided with them in the dark, they looked at us with wide, scared eyes. "Dean..." I whispered, "Something's up there." I pointed behind the couple.

Dean looked at the couple with hard eyes, "Get back to your car," He ordered, there was a rustling and the couple turned to see the scarecrow approach from the gloom, "Go! Go!" Dean shouted, his tone urgent. The couple didn't need telling a third time, they took off through the trees without another glance behind them. The scarecrow stopped and cocked his head at us; as if he were analysing us, then he started walking towards us. If you could call it walking, it was the combination of an awkward yet strangely confident shuffle and a clumsy lurch. Then it raised it's arm and something glinted. Sickle. Dean flicked the safety off his gun and aimed, a bullet smacked into the scarecrow's torso, it stumbled but it kept going, taking those strange strides – it didn't look awkward and clumsy anymore. Dean fired again and the scarecrow continued, unperturbed. Shadows burst from my ring and slashed savagely at the leather clad figure, it paused and looked down, then made an angry low growling sound.

I glanced at Dean, "Run?"

He fired three last times before the gun made a hollow click, "Son of a-."

"Come on!" I rolled my eyes and snapped my palms out, the scarecrow: now no less than three metres away, was forced back and I grabbed Dean's arm and took the opportunity, pulling him from the clearing and sprinting away. The couple was stood by some trees waiting for us, "What are you still doing here?" I demanded then sighed, "Just go!" The coupled kept going and we stopped and turned, I clicked my fingers and summoned a flame, waiting for the scarecrow to burst out from the trees.

"Is it still there?" Dean asked.

I raised my other hand and splayed my palm, reading the air carefully. Satisfied, I lowered both hands back down, letting the flame die out, "Nah, it's gone."

"Great. Now we can leave." Dean smiled and together we walked back to where the car was, I frowned when I saw the couple still stood by the fence waiting for us, upon seeing us the woman stormed over to us.

"What the hell was that?" She asked, I recognised hysteria in her eyes and gave Dean a glance and walked away, leaving him to deal with the overly-emotional woman. I walked up and leant against the fence next to the man.

"So... that happened." The man coughed awkwardly.

"Yep."

"You gonna tell me what that thing was?" He asked.

"Nope."

There was a pause.

"What about you and that guy? Who are you people?" He pressed.

I glanced at him, "Again, don't ask questions you don't want the answers to."

Dean and I crashed in his car for the night, making sure we parked up anywhere but near the orchard where the creepy, unkillable scarecrow was. I woke up to Dean on the phone to someone, "Yeah, I'm tellin' ya: Burkitsville, Indiana. Fun town." Dean was saying, I stretched and yawned the sleep away.

"Who are you talking to?" I asked him.

"Hang on, Sam." Dean said into the phone, I leant forward eagerly as Dean put the phone on loudspeaker.

"Sam?" I asked hopefully.

"Hey, Steph." I could tell Sam was smiling into the phone.

"Oh thank God," I sighed happily, "Sam, we're gonna need you back pronto." I told him.

"Dean's that bad, huh?" Sam chuckled.

"Yep," I laughed when I saw the look of hurt on Dean's face, "Where are you, anyway?"

"Bus Station waiting for a ride to California, fun times." Sam answered, I could hear the exhaustion in his tone.

"Sounds great," I drawled, "Did Dean tell you what we found down here?"

"Uh, yeah. Some scarecrow killing off random couples or something?" Sam replied.

"Basically. Did he mention how everything in this town is perfect – the lack of disease, fresh crops every year, that kind of thing?" I said.

"Yeah, I don't think it's a spirit animating it," Dean piped up, "I reckon it's a God. Or a pagan God, anyway."

"A pagan God?" I echoed, confused.

"What makes you say that?" Sam asked at the same time.

"Well, the annual cycle of its killings? And the fact that the victims are always a man and a woman – like some kind of fertility right. Think about it, Steph, how the locals were treating that couple." Dean looked at me and I frowned, trying to remember.

"The pie," I realised, "Scotty kept giving them free portions of pie."

"Right," Dean nodded, "Fattenin' 'em both up like a Christmas turkey."

"Gross." I mumbled, wrinkling my nose in disgust.

"The last meal," Sam explained, "Given to sacrificial victims."

"Yeah, I'm thinking a ritual sacrifice to appease some pagan God." Dean agreed.

"So, you're saying the God possesses the scarecrow..." I said in speculation.

"And the scarecrow takes its sacrifice. And for another year, the crops won't wilt, and disease won't spread." Dean nodded.

"Do you two know which God you guys are dealing with?" Sam asked.

"No, not yet." I shook my head, even knowing Sam couldn't see the gesture.

"Well, once you two figure out what it is, you can figure out a way to kill it." The younger Winchester pointed out.

"Yeah, we know. We're about to hit the local community college," Dean started.

"We are?" I frowned.

"Yep, whilst you were cat napping I booked an appointment with a professor," Dean nodded, "You know, since Steph and I don't have our trusty sidekick geek to do all the research." He added.

Sam laughed and I cracked a grin at the sound of it booming from the phone speaker, "You know, if you guys are hinting you need my help, just ask." He offered.

"We're not hinting anything," Dean shook his head, he glanced at me and I gave him a look. He knew what I wanted him to say next, "Actually, Sam... uh – I want you to know... I mean, don't think..." He trailed off awkwardly.

"Yeah. I'm sorry, too." Sam finished for his brother in a sad tone, "And Steph, I'm sorry I shoved you... twice." He added.

"I forgive you, I guess... but I swear: if you try that again, Sam Winchester, I will hit you so hard, your-."

"Ok, ok, that's enough," Dean cut me off with a chuckle, "But joking aside, Sam, I realised that you were right. You gotta do your own thing. You gotta live your own life." He admitted.

"Are you serious?" Sam asked in a disbelieving tone.

"You've always known what you want and you go after it. You stand up to Dad, and you always have. Hell, I wish I – anyway... I admire that about you. I'm proud of you Sammy." Dean finished with a small smile.

"I don't even know what to say." Sam eventually spoke.

"Say you'll take care of yourself." Dean's smile grew wider.

"I will." His brother promised.

"Call us when you find your Dad." I added, scared Dean and Sam were going to hang up.

"Ok. Bye, Dean. See you soon, Steph." Sam replied and then he hung up, Dean and I sat in silence listening to the dial tone.

"Right," Dean sighed heavily, "Shall we hit this college?"

"Yep." I nodded sadly.

"It's not everyday I get a research question on pagan ideology." The college professor looked at Dean and I behind his wide spectacles.

"Yeah, well, it's a little hobby of ours." Dean shrugged.

"But you aid you two were interested in local lore?" The professor asked.

"That's the one." I nodded with a smile.

"I'm afraid Indiana isn't really known for its pagan worship." The professor frowned.

"Well, what if it was imported? You know, like the Pilgrims brought their religion over. Wasn't a lot of this area settled by immigrants?" Dean asked, relaying the quick five minutes research we had done on the Indiana state whilst we were waiting for the professor.

"That is correct." The professor nodded slowly.

"Like that town near here: Burkitsville. Where are their ancestors from?" I pressed.

"Uh, northern Europe, I believe: Scandinavia." The professor took off his large spectacles and cleaned them on his shirt.

"What could you tell us about those pagan Gods?" Dean queried.

"Well, uh, there are hundreds of Norse Gods and Goddesses." The man answered.

"We're actually looking for one, one that could live in an orchard?" I tried.

"I might have some research on forest and woodland pagan worship, they're in my classroom," The professor got up from his chair and walked to the door of his office, then he turned and looked at Dean and I, "If you two would like to follow me, I can show you."

"Uh, yeah, sure." Dean shrugged and got up from his chair, I got up too and we followed the professor down the hall until he led us into his classroom. The professor hastily grabbed a chair and put it next to a ridiculously large bookcase, filled with hundreds and hundreds of thick, dusty books. With a small grunt the man climbed onto the chair and began to read along one of the higher shelves, his finger tracing along the spines of the books as he went.

"Ah, here we are." The professor eventually said, he grabbed a large, faded green book and jumped from the chair, "Woods God, right?" He asked as he slammed the book onto the front desk.

"That's right." I nodded.

"Well, lets see." The man said as he leafed through the dusty pages, the pages were either covered with tiny text writings, or illustrated with painstakingly neat ink drawings of figures and animals.

"Wait, wait, wait. What's that one?" Dean pointed to a picture of a scarecrow on a post surrounded by some farmers in a field.

"Oh, that's not a woods God, per se." The professor shook his head.

"'The V – Vanir'?" Dean read the title, the professor nodded and Dean continued, "'The Vanir were Norse Gods of protection and prosperity, keeping the local settlements safe from harm. Some villages built effigies of the Vanir in their fields. Other villages practised human sacrifice: one male, and one female.'" He finished and I tilted my head as I studied the picture, it looked hauntingly familiar to the one that had tried to slash us to death last night.

"Kind of looks like a scarecrow, huh?" I glanced up at the college teacher.

"I – I suppose." The professor nodded.

"'This particular Vanir has it's energy sprung from the sacred tree'?" I finished reading the caption of the picture with a confused glance at the professor.

"Well, pagans believed all sorts of things were infused with magic." The professor explained.

"Really?" I raised an eyebrow, feeling the comfortable chill of my necromancy ring on my forefinger.

"So what would happen if the sacred tree was torched? You think it'd kill the God?" Dean took over.

The teacher chuckled, "Guys, these are just legends we're discussing."

"Oh, of course. Yeah, you're right," Dean and I exchanged a look, "Listen, thank you very much." He smiled and shook the professor's hand, I did the same.

"That's a very intriguing ring you have there." The professor said, looking at my necromancy ring with interest.

"It is, isn't it?" I grinned, looking down at it.

"May I study it for a moment?" The teacher looked up at me behind his large spectacles.

"I'm afraid not, we have to be going." I sent him an apologetic smile, feeling a little uneasy. I backed away from the teacher politely and joined Dean at the classroom door, he opened it and we were met with three men in uniforms, the sheriff struck Dean on the head with the back of his rifle. I cried out when Dean slumped to the ground and backed up into the classroom as the officers advanced, one of them moved forward and tried to restrain me, but his hold wasn't strong enough and I easily slipped out of it, firing an elbow into his face as I did so. He yelled and staggered away, his hands went to his face and clutching his nose, the sheriff and the remaining officer exchanged a look before circling me, their movements were slow and deliberate: cautious.

I glanced at the professor with wide eyes, "Go! Get help!" The professor leant against his desk and crossed his arms, he glanced at the sheriff and I watched in horror as they exchanged a knowing glance, "You're in on it." I breathed.

"Yep. We're all in on it." The teacher grinned. I groaned and smacked my forehead: bad move. The officers struck, the officer moved behind me and gripped my arms behind my back, he kicked the back of my knee and it buckled and I was forced on my knees.

"Motherfu-." I was cut off when the sheriff stepped over and smacked me in the head with his rifle, I saw stars burst along my vision for a second, and then everything faded into black.

"Steph? Steph, come on, wake up!" A voice broke my sleep and I opened my eyes, Dean was crouched beside me, shaking me awake gently.

I sat up groggily, "Those bastards." I growled, rubbing the place where the sheriff had hit me with his stupid gun.

"Are you ok?" Dean asked me, his voice laced with concern.

"Fine." I muttered, standing up in a huff, "Where the hell are we?" I asked, suddenly realising we were stood in the cold and the dark.

"I think it's a cellar." Dean answered, I clicked my fingers and summoned a flame, the warm orange glow illuminated our surroundings.

"Definitely a cellar." I nodded, noting all the random pieces of junk that was scattered around the concrete floor.

"They took my phone, I can't call Sam for help." Dean said.

"Of course they did." I sighed and sat cross-legged on the cold stone floor, there wasn't much point standing around: we weren't going to get rescued anytime soon. I stared at the flame in my palm for a moment then frowned, noticing something: "Oh, you have _got _to be kidding me." I groaned.

"What? What's wrong?" Dean asked, walking over to me.

"My ring," I explained angrily, "It's gone."

"What, the, uh, necromancy ring?" Dean asked, I got up and walked over to the entrance of the cellar and rammed my fists against it.

"Fucking bastards!" I screamed, hoping they could hear me.

"Hey, hey, hey. We'll get it back, ok?" Dean offered me a small, unsure smile but I didn't respond, instead I looked down at my hands, my hair moved like a dark curtain over my face as I stared at my shaking hands. They were shaking because I was so angry, but I felt strangely calm about the current situation – that in itself was unsettling.

Dean had taken up the task of trying to open the door, whilst I had decided to stand idly by and bore myself by staring at the wall opposite me, "So," I said, studying my fingernails in one hand and keeping the flame in the other, "Getting sacrificed by a pagan God was not the way I thought I'd die."

Dean grunted, "Well, I don't know, it's classier than killing, I guess."

I scoffed and rolled my eyes, then frowned, "But seriously? A scarecrow God? It's gonna sound a little far-fetched written on my grave," I put my hand up, "'Here lies Valkyrie Cain – who was put to death by the scarecrow's bane.'" I moved my hand through the air, counting the letters as I spoke.

"At least it rhymes." Dean muttered, a smile growing on his face.

"Well, what else can it really do? Apart from sounding ridiculous." I shrugged, smiling back. "You should give up on opening that." I added.

Dean looked up at the cellar doors, "Well, I gotta do something to help us get outta here."

"Yeah," I sat cross-legged on the cold floor again, "But you're not _actually _helping us, are you? You're wasting your energy for when we need it."

Dean raised an eyebrow, "And when is that, exactly?"

"Come on, Dean, we've gone up against worse than _people_, surely. Even before I was zapped here – you must have been fighting worse creatures, right?" I asked.

Dean nodded slowly, "I guess..." He abandoned the door and sat next to me, "So tell me, what's the hardest thing you've ever had to do?"

I stretched my arms and exhaled slowly, "Depends, I've been up against some crazy things over the years."

"Like what?"

"I've fought vampires, evil sorcerers, remnants -."

"Wait, wait, wait. What's a remnant?" Dean asked, frowning in confusion as he cut me off.

"Oh, uh... They're basically black evil soul things that go around possessing people, around two thousand of them were locked away, but they all got out, so we had to stop them." I explained briefly.

Dean stared at me with wide eyes, "And, how did you do that, exactly?"

"With a big snowglobe-y hoover thing." I answered with a shrug.

"A – a 'big snowglobe-y hoover thing'?" Dean repeated slowly.

"Yep." I nodded.

There was a brief pause.

"What else did you fight?" Dean asked.

"Uhh, I've killed Gods, this thing called the Grotesquery – a huge hybrid monster surgically made up of various monster body parts and infused with magic," I explained, anticipating Dean's silent question, "And what else? I've fought necromancers, witches... and yetis."

Dean paused, "Yetis?"

"Uh-huh, that about two weeks before I was sent here. One of them tried to eat my head." I nodded.

"What was that like?" Dean chuckled.

"Amazingly not great, their breath was so disgusting." I laughed, shivering at the memory.

"So, what were you doing before you were, uh, 'zapped' over here?" Dean pressed.

"Ummm, well, my partner and I had just defeated this sorcerer who was, like, all-powerful, and my partner and I were just doing the little crimes whilst our government sorted itself out." I shrugged.

"What's wrong with Ireland's government?" Dean frowned.

"What? Oh no, I meant... basically each country has it's own government; the Grand Mage and the two Elders." I explained, "They operate within a Sanctuary, each country has it's own and they keep order in the magical world. The problem was the other countries' governments didn't like how Ireland kept order, and it was all a little tense."

The older Winchester nodded slowly, "I guess that makes sense."

"I hope it does, because I am _not _explaining it again." I smirked and then frowned, "Someone's coming."

It was true: in the silence the sound of sticks breaking and stones crunching was getting closer, Dean and I stood and readied ourselves for the could-be adversaries. The doors to the cellar slowly opened and a young, plain face peeked through.

"What are you two doing down here?" She asked in a shocked, hushed tone.

"Oh, you know, we hang out in strangers' basements all the time." I drawled sarcastically.

Dean hit me lightly on the shoulder, "You're not helping." He hissed under his breath.

"Neither is she!" I protested.

"How did you get in here?" Emily's frowned deepened, we turned to Emily in confusion.

"You don't know?" Dean asked.

"Why you two are down locked in the basement? Not a clue." The girl shrugged.

"Your whole town is crazy, you know that scarecrow in that orchard? It's the reason why your town is so 'blessed', your town stays perfect all year round, it just requires a little tribute." I explained.

Emily looked at the two of us, puzzled, "Tribute?" She echoed.

"Yeah, and guess who it's gonna be?" Dean replied, walking over to where Emily was stood in the entrance of the cellar.

Emily paled, "What? Then – Then why are you in my aunt and uncle's basement?"

"Well, looks like your aunt and uncle are part of the whole 'lamb to the slaughter' tradition, guess who they lined up for the chop?" Despite the situation, I smirked at the girl's naivety.

"Oh my god." Emily gasped, her eyes widening, her hand gripped a discarded chair with a broken leg.

"Yeah, it's something. But you see: if you were to let us go, we could stop the scarecrow so no one else would have to die, you'd never see us again." Dean reasoned.

"But – my aunt and uncle wouldn't do something like that, they're good people. You – You two must be s-some kind of escaped criminals, or something." Emily shook her head.

Dean and I exchanged a glance, "Believe me, we're innocent. Your aunt and uncle are just crazy pagan worshippers along with the rest of the town." I offered her a small smile but she didn't return it.

"So... you're saying... my aunt and uncle – who I know to be the nicest people in the world by the way, have locked you in the basement and are going to kill you?" Emily spoke slowly, trying to get her head around it.

"Sacrifice us," Dean corrected, then looked at her sympathetically, "You really didn't know anything about this, did you?"

"About what? My adopted parents being psycho killers? The scarecrow? I can't believe this." Emily laughed, although I recognised the hysteria in her eyes: she was going into shock.

"Technically the scarecrow's an ancient pagan God, but yeah, you better start believing. Because we need your help." I replied.

I expected her to run, to back away from us as her wide eyes darted wildly between us. But she didn't, to my surprise she took a deep breath and looked up at us with shining eyes, "Okay." She breathed.

"As Stephanie mentioned earlier, we can destroy the scarecrow. But we have to find the tree." Dean gave the girl a comforting smile.

"What tree?" Emily's voice didn't shake this time when she spoke.

"Uh it would be really old," I shrugged, "The locals would treat it with a lot of respect, you know, like it was sacred."

"There was this one apple tree," Emily frowned as she concentrated, "The immigrants brought it over with them, they call it the First Tree."

"Is it in the orchard?" Dean asked.

Emily opened her mouth to answer, but a faint shout from the distance cut her off: "Emily!" It was Stacy, "Emily honey, where are you?"

Emily panicked, "I shouldn't be here." She whispered, tears beginning to pool at her eyes again.

"It's gonna be fine," I assured her, "Just tell us where the tree is and we can stop this."

"I shouldn't." Emily shook her head.

"Emily? Where did you go? I just put your dinner on the table." Stacy called again, her voice was louder this time, closer.

"The tree, Emily," I whispered urgently, "Where is the tree?" I approached her quickly, outside you could hear the noise of stones skittering across the ground as Stacy came closer.

"I – I don't know," Emily sniffed and looked over her shoulder, "I need to go."

"Wait!" Dean protested, but Emily backed away quickly and closed the doors, I raced over and tried to yank them back open, but Emily bolted it shut and I heard the distinctive _click _of the lock in the door.

"You little-." My growl was cut off by Dean clamping his hand over my mouth.

"Shhh." He whispered and we listened as Emily and Stacy conversed outside.

"Emily? What are you doing back here?" Stacy asked.

"Oh me? I – I thought I heard some voices near here, so I came over to see what it was." Emily stuttered.

"Well, trust me Emily, there's noone around here but us," Stacy laughed lightly, "Now go on inside, your uncle put your dinner out on the table for you, we have to go out tonight and finish something, but we'll be back before you know it."

"Ok, that sounds great, I'll see you later, auntie." Emily's footsteps faded away, after a few moments the sound of someone else walking away allowed Dean and I to relax.

"We have to get out of here. Now." I said to Dean.

He nodded in agreement, "Before the crazy bitch comes back with the other sacrificial-happy lunatics."

I laughed and then looked around for something, anything that would be sturdy enough to break through the door. After a few minutes of slowly rotating on the spot I suddenly slapped myself on the forehead, "Oh wow." I scolded myself.

"What is it?" Dean asked.

"I'm such an idiot. We've been down here for ages," I walked over to the cellar door, "When all we needed to do was-." I snapped my palms out frustrated and slammed the air into the cellar door entrance, the doors shot out, the padlocks and bolts securing it came apart with a loud, whining _snap _and we were free.

Dean stared at what was left of the doors, "That was-."

"Impressive. We were thinking the same thing." Some shadows stepped out from the darkness outside, I recognised Stacy and Harley, but not the other two.

I sighed and glanced at Dean, "We can_not_ catch a break today."

"Uh-huh." Dean murmured as Stacy stepped forward.

"It's time." She smiled, I frowned and backed away from the door and stood next to Dean, Stacy's smile widened.

The sheriff and some of his officers had volunteered to secure Dean and I to the trees, I recognised them as the officers who had accompanied the sheriff to kidnap us from the college. The officer whose nose I had broken had insisted on handcuffing me, dashing my dream of clicking my fingers and burning through the ropes they had tied Dean to a tree with. The townspeople had picked a clearing with trees littered one side and a fence on the other, the fence had a wide square mesh for wiring and the had put one side of the handcuff through the wire and locked me in it, disabling me from any means of escaping. "How many people have you killed, Sheriff? How much blood is on your hands?" Dean taunted the officer as they finished their handiwork.

"We don't kill them." The sheriff replied in a stiff tone.

"No, but you sure cover up afterwards," I glared up at the sheriff from where I was tied to the fence, "How many cars have you hidden? What about the number of clothes you've probably buried?" The sheriff stared at me for a moment and I held his gaze evenly, he turned away and walked out of the clearing without another word to either myself or Dean. His deputies looked at Dean and us in a wavering alarm, then followed the sheriff from the clearing.

Stacy and Harley were watching Dean and I from a few feet away, "Try to understand – it's our responsibility to protect this town-."

"Oh come _on_!" I rolled my eyes as I cut Harley off, "So what if, if a few crops die or someone loses their home? It happens to everyone, and you can't stop it."

Harley scoffed and exchanged a glance with Stacy, "Well, Sweetheart, it looks like we can stop it. Didn't your parents ever teach you what sacrifice means? Giving up something for the greater good. We need our town safe, and if you two have to die then so be it." I shot daggers at the couple as they turned and walked away.

"I hope your apple pie is freakin' worth it!" Dean shouted to the couple as the dark enveloped them.

"So, have you got a plan?" I asked, demonstrating how restricted my hands were handcuffed to the fence.

"I'm workin' on it." Dean shrugged.

Dean and I spent the next few hours in silence, I watched the moon as it slowly rose up in the dark night sky as the hours passed, in the distance you could hear the faint rustling of dead leaves from last autumn being moved aside as various woodland creatures slunk through the dark. I yawned and looked at Dean, "How's that plan going?" I asked him, Dean shifted a little and I sighed, "You don't have a plan, do you?"

"I'm working on it," Dean shrugged, his tone defensive, "Can you see?" He suddenly asked.

I frowned in confusion, "What?"

"Is he moving yet?" Dean asked again.

"You're asking if I can see the scarecrow in the dark? No, no I can't see it." I rolled my eyes and sighed in exasperation. Suddenly, the trees to my right rustled and twigs snapped under someone's heavy feet, "Wow, just on time, I guess." I managed a shaky smile at Dean. He started grunting and frowning in concentration as he tried to untie the ropes for the umpteenth time that night, the sounds were coming closer and closer and I found my wrists straining against the cuffs, they were rubbing raw already and the soreness made me wince. A large silhouette stumbled from the undergrowth, in the moonlight I saw the figure tilt his head and hope blossomed up within me: it couldn't be... could it?

"Dean? Stephanie?" I closed my eyes against the sudden plummeting disappointment as I recognised Sam's voice. Hang on a moment? Sam? Sam!

"Oh! Oh, I take everything I said back. I'm so happy to see you!" Dean's sudden joy made me smile as I saw Sam go over to his brother and untie his bonds.

"How'd you get here?" I asked, "Not that I'm happy to see you." I added quickly.

"I, uh – I stole a car." Sam mumbled and I grinned.

"Haha! That's my boy." Dean cried out as he stood up from the tree, free. His happiness out the news of crime was unsettling, Sam and Dean hugged and I smiled: everything was normal again.

"Uh, hello?" I jangled the handcuffs to catch the boys' attention, they broke off and looked at me, "If you boys have quite finished." I drawled, holding up my restricted wrists.

"Oh, sorry, Steph." Sam smiled as he approached me, "What's with the handcuffs anyway?"

"I broke a guy's nose earlier, and he insisted that I be cuffed to the fence," I shrugged, "These things hurt like a bitch." I complained, Sam chuckled and crouched down, producing his lockpicks from his pocket.

"Hold still." He ordered, I didn't move a muscle whilst Sam worked on opening the lock, I didn't even breathe to assure his focus. When the cuffs fell free I sighed gratefully and rubbed my red wrists as I stood up, "Oh, and we might wanna keep an eye on that scarecrow – he could come alive any minute." I added.

"What scarecrow?" Sam asked, I looked up and shared an alarmed glance with Dean.

"Torch." I held my hand out to Sam, the younger Winchester fumbled around in his pockets and eventually handed me it, I flicked it on and shone it over where the scarecrow was situated, the beam hit the empty post. "Oh, for God's sake." I closed my eyes and rubbed my eyes tiredly, "This is not our day."

Dean, Sam and I were jogging past the trees, trying to find our way out of the maze of fruit trees as the sky lightened to a pale blue as the morning sun began to emerge. "Alright, now, this sacred tree you're both talking about-." Sam started.

"It's the source of it's power." Dean answered, anticipating his brother's question.

"We need to find it and burn it." I said.

"Nah, in the morning. Let's just shag ass before Leather Face catches up." Dean shook his head, we turned and reached a clearing, a large mob of townspeople with Stacy and Harley at the front.

"Uh, wrong turn – this way." I smiled and we turned to find all the exits blocked off by the town, I waved to the officer with the broken nose, he responded by pulling out his gun and checking the chamber, "How about we come to a compromise?" I offered, turning to Stacy and Harley.

"It'll be over quickly, I promise." Harley assured me.

"You're crazy," I realised, glancing at the townspeople, "You're all crazy."

"Listen, you have to let him take you. You have to-."

"We'll pass." I smiled and grabbed they boys' arms, I half-dragged them towards the main crowd and, "Move!" I screamed at them. The alarmed crowd fidgeted a little as the three of us ran at full pelt towards them, Harley and Stacy stood still with their heads held high, a challenge burned in their eyes as we got closer. At the last moment the mob dived out the way to avoid collision with us, we passed by and I grinned: finally something when right today. Someone roughly grabbed my wrist and I cried out as I was yanked back, my sore wrist screamed in protest against the sudden pressure.

I turned to see my attacker and came face to face with Harley, I tried to wrench my arm away but I couldn't free myself from his surprisingly iron grip. Plan B, I guess. I reached up with my left hand and jabbed him twice in the throat, Harley coughed and the grip was gone. I rubbed my wrist and noticed the lack of ring on my finger, I missed it, and I wanted it back. I knew I should've stopped, but something else was telling me different.

_They took your ring. They need to be punished. _

As Harley recovered I approached him with slow, meaningful steps. When he stopped spluttering he turned around to meet my palm smashing into his face, there was a _crunch _and Harley screamed, blood pumped from his nose and he fell back. I smiled and advanced, kicking the back of Harley's knee, it buckled and he went down, I stood over him as the ageing man wailed.

_Do it. Kill him. _

I knelt down, from a little way away someone was calling my name, "Steph? Stephanie! What are you doing?" It was Dean, a part of me wanted to look around, but another part of me wanted payback.

And that part was stronger.

Someone gave a loud, banshee-like screech and shoved me, the quick part of my brain reacted and I rolled and came up. Stacy had a long, wicked blade gripped in her right hand, it glinted menacingly in the early morning light as she stalked towards me, the townspeople had formed a tight-knit circle around us, as Stacy and I circled eachother I glimpsed Sam and Dean looking at me with shocked expressions. I smiled menacingly at Stacy and lunged quickly, my hands lashing out like snakes as one hand wrapped around her throat and the other hand on the hilt of the knife.

_That's it. Just take the knife and kill the old lady. Do it. Do it now. Now._

There was a headache pounding away in my temples as I struggled with Stacy, she staggered, unbalanced and pulled me to the floor with her, she wrenched away from my choking grip and bought her other hand up to try and claw my eyes out. I flinched back and we suddenly rolled, she landed on top and used both hands to tear the blade away from me. Her green eyes were bright with murderous rage as she held the knife above my head, ready to furiously bring it down for the killing blow.

And then she bought it down.

_You need to move. Now._

At the last moment I raised my pelvis and threw Stacy off balance, I wriggled and got out from under her and jumped up, she got up with me and I met her jaw with a vicious punch; not enough to knock her unconscious, but enough to give the brain a little shake to disorientate it. There was a sickening sound behind us and the crowd screamed, I turned to see the scarecrow with his bloodied sickle poking out through a dead Harley's chest, Stacy let out a broken cry of anguish and leapt at me, I cried out in surprise and felt a surge of anger and threw her off, shoving her into the arms of the scarecrow. The crowd fell into a terrified silence and the scarecrow gripped Stacy as he slowly pulled his long, nefarious blade from Harley's corpse. Harley dropped to the floor like a puppet with it's strings cuts, the crowd dispersed and ran as the scarecrow raised the blade above Stacy's head. I stood, frozen, as the blade came down and claimed Stacy's head in one smooth motion, the scarecrow let go of Stacy's body and it dropped, landing next to her husbands. Stacy's head, however, tumbled and rolled to a stop less than a metre away from me, I stared at the finely severed neck wound and found I couldn't draw my gaze. Someone gently grabbed me and pulled me into a tight embrace, one hand around my waist and the other stroking my head, "Come on, Steph, let's get outta here." It was Dean again, I blinked slowly and looked up at him.

"I didn't mean to shove her that way," I whispered, "I-."

"Shhhh," Dean hushed me, "It's ok. But we need to leave." He held me close as he guided me away, the scarecrow had long since disappeared, as had the townspeople. When we reached the single road there was a lone car parked, Sam delved into his pocket and pulled out some car keys, as he unlocked the car Dean gently led me over to the vehicle and opened the door. I felt so... detached, like my body was just going through the motions, operating on autopilot whilst my brain floated in a very confused and lethargic fog. Once everyone was in the car and the doors were closed, Sam and Dean turned round to look at me.

"Steph?" Sam asked in a cautious tone.

"Mmm?" I responded, staring straight ahead of me.

"Are you, uh, are you ok?" He continued, I sighed and focused on him.

"I'm fine." I managed a small smile, hoping they boys would believe it.

The brother glanced at eachother, "Well... If you say so." Dean said in a hedged tone.

"Can we destroy the tree later? I just wanna get a few hours before coming back here." I asked.

"Yeah, we'll book into somewhere in the next town over and come back tomorrow." Sam nodded and started the engine, I didn't look back at the orchard as we drove away quickly.

We arrived at the orchard in the morning, but the sun was well in the sky as the three of us finally stumbled upon familiar surroundings. "This looks sort of familiar." I mumbled as we walked passed the fruit trees. We rounded a corner and I stopped short; a few metres away was the scarecrow, on it's post like traditional scarecrows were. But this wasn't a traditional scarecrow. The three of us approached it slowly, ready to run if the scarecrow so much as lifted a leather-clad finger, when we were a few steps away we stopped and stared at the scarecrow.

"I'm bettin' if the sarecrow's here, then the tree must be around here somewhere. Let's keep looking." Dean suggested, the brother's walked away whilst I looked intently at the monster, my eyes fell to it's sickle and my heart lurched when I saw it was still stained with a dark crimson.

_Well, we know who's blood that is._

"Come on, Steph, let's get away from here." Dean walked back over to me, I turned to him and nodded, "Sam thinks he's found the tree over here." He continued, sending me a bright smile as he led me away from the post.

We found Sam stood next to the tree Sam thought was the right one, it was notably larger than any of the other trees, and stood proudly amidst them all, upon closer inspection there was a carving marked onto the trunk, I recognised it as the same design that was on the scarecrow's arm.

"Hand me the gasoline, Dean." Sam held his hand out while I traced my finger lightly over the engraving. Dean unzipped the duffel bag he had slung over his shoulder and rifled through it until he found what he wanted, he threw it to Sam and I stood back whilst he doused the trunk and some branches with the petrol, once he was done he threw the can aside and I clicked my fingers, summoning a bright flame in my palm. I aimed carefully and threw the fireball at the tree, it hit the trunk and caught aflame instantly, I stepped back ad found Dean's hand as the three of us watched it go up in flames.

"I'll just be two minutes, I need to get something of mine." I called back to the boys, I'd convinced them to stay in the car, but as I was roaming the empty halls of the local college I found myself wondering why I'd asked them to stay in the car in the first place.

_Because I wanted you to._

I sighed and rubbed my temple where a headache was forming, and pushed open the door that I wanted. The college professor was sat at his desk, pouring over a large, thick book on top of the desk. I walked up to the desk quickly, careful to keep my footsteps silent. When I reached the desk I pushed over the pencil pot, the stationary spilled out and clattered to the floor. The professor jumped and looked up from the book he was reading. "It's – it's you!" He exclaimed, standing up so quickly his chair shot out from under him.

"You remember me, that's good." I nodded and gave him a calculating smile.

"L-look, I didn't sell you out – it wasn't me, I swear!" He cried.

I rolled my eyes and sighed, "Look, I don't care what you did. I just want what you stole from me."

"Stole, stole what?" The professor stuttered.

"You know what, and I want it back." I narrowed my eyes.

"I – I don't know what you're talking about." The man looked at me with wide, fearful eyes.

"Right, I'll clear it up for you, shall I? My ring that you were so interested in, you stole it from me." I glared at him, raising my voice over the pounding in my head.

"I, uh-."

"Look," I leaned in over the desk, "I'm stronger than you, and I have every intention of hitting you over my ring." I whispered.

The professor paled, "I – I think I have seen it around here somewhere." He edged around the desk carefully and walked over to the cupboards on the far side of the room. He opened a draw and moved some contents around inside it and eventually brought out a small box.

"Give it." I held my hand out impatiently as I walked over to the cowering man.

"You know I was only keeping it for, ah, safe keeping." The professor smiled weakly.

"Stop talking." I rolled my eyes and snatched the box from his sweating grip, I sighed as I opened it and slipped the ring on, smiling a secret smile as I felt the welcoming chill of the necromancy magic. "Do you have any idea how precious this ring is to me?" I whispered, looking up at the professor under my thick lashes.

"No, it just – it just interested me, that's all." The professor shrugged.

_Do it._

"Without this, I couldn't do _this_." I caught the shadows from the room and they swung up and slashed across the professor's torso. The professor screamed in pain, I staggered away and clutched my head as the pounding in my head got so loud it seemed like my head was about to explode. I took one more breathe and when I exhaled, I wasn't me.

Darquesse smiled when the dropped to the floor, blood pooled out on the floor and Darquesse's smile widened and she stretched, enjoying the freedom from being locked away in Valkyrie's head – or Stephanie, as she went by these days. She looked down at the man and watched in fascination as his life slowly bled out of him onto the floor, out of boredom she waved her hand and a sharpened shadow opened up his throat. He died choking on his own life-force. Without another look at the professor's fresh corpse, Darquesse turned and exited the classroom, shutting the door behind her. She smiled as she looked out the window's of the college: a new reality – just waiting to be completely obliterated. Darquesse sighed when she thought of the Winchesters, she couldn't decide whether they were convenient for her to keep around or not. "Steph?" Someone was calling her name, or at least, her _old _name, "Come on, Steph, this isn't the time for hide and seek." Darquesse smirked when she recognised the voice as Dean, Valkyrie's - or Stephanie as she went by these days – new love interest. Darquesse could see the appeal of course, but she knew that she would be the one to most likely kill him and his brother. Not now, but in the long run – when she had her plans straight and her options open: it couldn't hurt to allow Valkyrie be her pretend self for a little while more. Sam seemed different to Dean though, apparently having unusual psychic dreams that come true. Darquesse knew she'd have to keep an eye on the younger Winchester, in case he proved to be a threat to her. Footsteps entered the hallway and Darquesse exhaled and drifted away.

I blinked and frowned: how did I get to the window? I turned and was met with Dean, he had that smirk on his face and I pulled him into a tight hug. "What's this for?" Dean chuckled as he hugged me back.

"Nothing, really. Just feeling better." I answered, it was true: that headache I had been experiencing over the past few days had gone, and I welcomed the rare peace in my head for once.

"Well, that's great. But we wanna get going, so..." Dean trailed off and I looked up at him and nodded.

"Then let's get going, I'm so done with this pagan loving town anyway." I let go of him and he took my hand, we exited the college and I squinted in the bright sunlight and grinned when I spotted Sam leaning against Dean's car.

"Hey, do you think Emily's gonna be alright?" Dean wondered as we approached his brother.

I shrugged, "I know she lost her crazy aunt and uncle, and they were the only parental figures she had – but she didn't let us out when we asked, so I can only be so sympathetic."

"Fair enough." Dean nodded, we stopped in front of Sam and I pulled him into a tight embrace.

"I missed you too, Steph." Sam chuckled and patted me on the back.

I laughed, "You know how much I hate hugs, Sam Winchester, so shut up and hug me."

"What? You literally just hugged me like, two minutes ago!" Dean protested from beside us.

"Yeah, but you're the exception." I rolled my eyes and scoffed, stepping out of the hug with Sam.

"You know you guys are forgetting something." Sam said, changing the subject.

"Forgetting what?" Dean frowned.

"The rest of the townspeople – they'll just get away with what they've been doing." The younger Winchester pointed out.

Dean and I exchanged a glance, "Well, what'll happen to the town will be punishment enough," Dean concluded and I nodded in agreement, "So, can I drop you off somewhere?" He asked his brother.

"What?! You're not leaving us again are you?" I demanded, looking at Sam with wide eyes.

Sam put his hands in his pockets, "Steph, it's fine. I think you're both stuck with me, actually."

I relaxed whilst Dean cocked his head, "What made you change your mind?" He asked.

"I didn't," Sam shook his head, "I still wanna find Dad, and you're still a pain in the ass." A smile played at the corners of his mouth at his comment, "But, Jess and Mum – they're both gone. Dad is God knows where and you, me and Steph? We're all that's left. So, if we're gonna see this through, we're gonna do it together." He finished solemnly.

Dean and I paused and looked at eachother, the Dean reached out and wrapped his arms around his brother, "Hold me, Sam. That was beautiful." He gushed, Sam shoved him away and we all laughed.

"Hey! You both should be kissing my ass. You were dead meat, guys." Sam smirked.

"Yeah, right. I had a plan – I'd have gotten out." I rolled my eyes scoffed.

"Steph, you were handcuffed to a fence. You weren't going anywhere." Sam raised his eyebrows and shook his head.

"You doubt my skill?" I mocked.

The boys looked at eachother, "Yep." They both said.

"What-_ever_," I frowned and crossed my arms, "Just get your ass in the car. Both of you."

**Author's Note: I'm sorry for the late update, I've had applications and open evenings to sort out and I've spent most of my time improving my CV and revising for mocks and exams. My life, as you can probably tell, is beyond fun. Ok, so I'm gonna update when I get ten more reviews, I promise I will try and keep on track this time! **


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